In April 2022, Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt repayments due to a balance of payment crisis. Five large and powerful countries—Australia, China, India, Japan, and the United States—and multilateral organisations assisted Sri Lanka during the economic crisis. This paper raises two questions: first, was Sri Lanka seeking economic and political shelter by engaging with regional and global powers; and second, what happens to small states when seeking shelter from regional and global powers? With the intention that the theory might shed light on its behaviour during the 2022 crisis, the paper uses Shelter Theory to argue that Sri Lanka demonstrated shelter-seeking behaviour by engaging with five regional and global powers and three multilateral organisations when its economy collapsed in 2022 leading to a socio-political crisis. It highlights five findings that indicate the predicament of small states when seeking political and economic shelter from larger, more powerful states and international organisations.