Sri Lanka

Naval exercise between Pak, Sri Lanka shelved following India's concerns

A plan to hold a military exercise between the navies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the strategic waters of Trincomalee was shelved weeks back after New Delhi conveyed its concerns to Colombo over the proposed drills, multiple sources have said. Trincomalee is situated on Sri Lanka's northeastern coast and is considered a significant hub in the Indian Ocean region, especially for India's maritime security interests. The sources said the navies of the two countries planned to carry out the exercise off Trincomalee in line with their regular engagements. The plan did not go through after India apprised its apprehensions over the planned exercise to the Sri Lankan side, they told PTI. The navies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka are known to have cordial relations and warships from both countries visit each other's ports regularly, besides carrying out wargames. There was no official word on the plan either from Sri Lanka or from Pakistan. Military experts, explaining Trincomalee's strategic

Trump tariffs' external shock creates uncertainty for Sri Lanka, says IMF

The external shock in the form of tariffs imposed on a range of countries by the Trump administration has created uncertainity for Sri Lanka in its path to recovery from economic crisis, the IMF said here on Friday. The recent external shock and evolving developments are creating uncertainty for the Sri Lankan economy, which is still recovering from crisis," the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said at the end of a staff visit. The IMF team was here from April 3 until Friday to discuss Sri Lanka's performance and policies for the four-year USD 2.9 billion facility extended in 2023. The post crisis growth rebound of 5 per cent in 2024 is impressive, inflation declined considerably in recent quarters and has fallen to -2.6 per cent at end of March 2025," the global lender said, adding that substantial fiscal reforms strengthened public finances. On Trump tariff, the IMF said more time was needed to assess the impact of the global shock and how its implications could be addressed wit

Balancing acts: PM Narendra Modi's visit strengthens Sri Lankan ties

As first foreign dignitary to visit Sri Lanka since election of supposedly China-leaning President Dissanayake, both countries have added an impetus to recalibrating relations that began three yrs ago

Sri Lanka releases 14 Indian fishermen after PM Modi urges humane approach

Sri Lanka on Sunday released at least 11 Indian fishermen as a special gesture, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for resolving the vexed fishermen issue with a "humane approach". The fishermen issue figured prominently during talks between PM Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday. "We also discussed issues related to fishermen's livelihood. We agreed that we should proceed with a humane approach in this matter," Modi said in his media statement after meeting Dissanayake. "We also emphasised on immediate release of the fishermen and their boats," he said. At least 11 Indian fishermen were released as a special gesture, people familiar with the matter said. The fishermen issue is a contentious one in ties between the two sides. There have been several alleged incidents in the past of Sri Lankan Navy personnel using force against Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait which is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka. At

PM Modi departs for home after concluding 'productive' visit to Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for India on Sunday after concluding a "very productive" visit to Sri Lanka where he held extensive talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and witnessed the signing of several agreements to boost cooperation in sectors such as defence, energy and digitalisation. Modi arrived in the Sri Lankan capital from Thailand, where he attended a summit of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). "A very productive State Visit to Sri Lanka concludes. PM @narendramodi emplanes for India," the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X. During the prime minister's visit, the two nations inked a defence pact to institutionalise military cooperation, signalling an upward trajectory in defence relations, leaving behind the bitter chapter of India pulling out the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) from the island nation around 35 years ago. The prime minister asserted

India, Sri Lanka sign 5-year defence MoU during PM Modi's Colombo visit

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation between India and Sri Lanka, signed Saturday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the island nation, will remain in force for five years, the country top defence official Sampath Thuiyakontha said. "India annually trains around 750 Sri Lankan military personnel. This defence partnership continues to be an invaluable asset," Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Thuiyakontha told a press briefing here. The MoU on defence cooperation will remain in force for five years, he said, adding that the decision to formalise the MoU was reached during the 2023 defence dialogue between the two nations, with the Sri Lankan cabinet approving the agreement in January this year. As part of the cooperation under this MoU, both parties are committed to respecting each other's military and national laws, as well as the principles and purposes of the UN Charter-including sovereign equality and non-intervention in internal affairs, Thuiyakonth

PM Modi meets Sri Lanka's Oppn leader, stresses bipartisan India-SL ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday underlined that the "special partnership" between India and Sri Lanka is endorsed across party lines in the island nation as he met Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa here. Modi landed in Colombo last evening after concluding his trip to Bangkok where he attended a summit of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). In a post on X following his meeting with Premadasa, Modi expressed his appreciation for the opposition leader's personal efforts in fostering India-Sri Lanka ties. "Glad to meet Sri Lanka's Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Sajith Premadasa. Appreciated his personal contribution and commitment to strengthening India-Sri Lanka friendship. "Our special partnership receives support in Sri Lanka cutting across party lines. Our cooperation and robust development partnership are guided by the welfare of the people of our two countries, the prime minister wrote, sharing some ...

India, Sri Lanka, UAE unveil ambitious initiative for energy cooperation

India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday firmed up an ambitious agreement to develop Trincomalee as an "energy hub" with a broader aim to help Colombo to achieve energy security and fuel its economic growth. The pact was signed following wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. To expand their energy ties, India and Sri Lanka also concluded a separate pact on electricity grid interconnection, a project that has been on the drawing board for some time. On the tripartite energy pact, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said it is an initiative designed to ensure Sri Lanka's energy security, provisioning of energy at affordable rates, and also to contribute revenue to the island nation through export earnings from energy. Explaining the pact, Misri said at a media briefing that the pact is a government-to-government MoU in order to provide the enabling framework, and to set out some of the broad terms of ...

PM Modi, Sri Lankan prez discuss 'Neighbourhood First' policy, Tamil people

India and Sri Lanka signed a landmark defence cooperation agreement to bolster defence ties, promote maritime security, and increase strategic engagement

India, Sri Lanka sign defence pact after PM Modi, Prez Dissanayaka talks

For the first time, India and Sri Lanka on Saturday inked an ambitious defence cooperation pact following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The two sides also signed a pact to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub. Another agreement was inked to facilitate New Delhi's multi-sectoral grant assistance to Sri Lanka's eastern region. PM Modi and President Dissanayake also virtually inaugurated the Sampur solar power project. Several agreements were also firmed up between the two sides following the talks between the two leaders. The talks were held a day after Modi arrived in the Sri Lankan capital after concluding his trip to Bangkok where he attended a summit of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). Ahead of the talks, Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the historic Independence Square in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital, in perhaps the first such honour given to a forei

Sri Lanka's target to be land mines free by 2028 at risk as US reviews aid

Thavarathnam Pushparani fought on the front lines for the now-defeated Tamil Tiger rebels against the Sri Lankan forces in its decadeslong separatist war and later took to clearing the land mines on the same battle lines. But the Trump administration's suspension of aid threatens Sri Lanka's demining operations, pushing the livelihoods of thousands like Pushparani into uncertainty. What is more uncertain for Sri Lanka now is its obligation to rid the island nation of mines by 2028 under the Ottawa Treaty, which it ratified in 2017. Pushparani has experienced the civil war in its full fury. In her family, her husband, father and two brothers died fighting for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the rebel group was formally known. Two other siblings are missing. She was born in eastern Sri Lanka and while still in school, her family had to move to the northern parts of the nation after a countrywide ethnic pogrom against minority Tamils by majority Sinhala mobs in 1983. The ...

Changing contours of India's aid to neighbouring countries and regions

Returning the favour, Modi will be the first foreign leader to be hosted by Dissanayake

PM's visit to Thailand for Bimstec Summit next week to go ahead: MEA

Modi will travel to Sri Lanka afterwards; MoUs on energy, defence and health to be signed

India, Sri Lanka set to ink defence pact during PM Modi's Colombo trip

For the first time, India and Sri Lanka are set to sign a major defence cooperation pact during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the island nation next week, a move that comes amid China's relentless attempts to increase its military influence over Colombo. The two sides are also likely to firm up a raft of other bilateral agreements including one on restructuring Sri Lanka's debt following talks between Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka in Colombo on April 5. In the second and final leg of his two-nation tour, Modi will arrive in Sri Lanka on the evening of April 4 on a three-day trip after concluding his visit to Thailand. At a media briefing Friday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on defence cooperation is expected to be inked and it is being signed for the first time. If signed, the MoU on defence cooperation is set to signal a major upward trajectory in India-Sri Lanka defence leaving behind the bitter chapter

Highlights: We are reducing duty to become manufacturing hub for batteries, says Sitharaman

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Sri Lankan navy arrests 11 TN fishermen, takes them to Kangesanthurai camp

11 Tamil Nadu fishermen were apprehended in one boat fishing in the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu

SL criticises Britain's 'unilateral' sanctions on its former generals

Sri Lanka on Wednesday slammed the British government's "unilateral action" to sanction its three former military commanders, who led the campaign that crushed the LTTE in 2009, saying the move will complicate the national reconciliation process. A UK foreign office statement Monday said Sri Lanka's three military commanders - former Army Commanders Gen Shavendra Silva, Jagath Jayasuriya and former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda - were among those sanctioned and subjected to UK travel bans and asset freezes. The UK government also sanctioned Vinyagamurthy Muralidaran, the deputy leader of the LTTE, who later turned a rebel of the group and became a deputy minister in the national parliament. In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that "such unilateral actions by countries do not assist but serve to complicate the national reconciliation process underway in Sri Lanka". "The government is in the process of strengthening domestic mechanisms on ...

Sri Lanka court sentences Indian to hard labour over cricket match fixing

An Indian national was on Tuesday sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment by the high court in the central town of Matale in connection with a 2024 case of fixing a cricket match. Yogi Patel was charged based on a complaint by Upul Tharanga, chairman of Sri Lanka selectors, over a proposal to fix matches in the Legends League T20 tournament played in Kandy. Patel, who was tried in absentia as he had fled the country despite a travel ban by the court, was arrested in March last year and later released on bail in May under strict bail conditions. After he fled the country, his lawyers told the court that he had fled due to death threats. The judge had previously ordered the police's CID to issue an interpol warrant for Patel's arrest. Sri Lanka, in 2019, adopted the Prevention of Sports Related Corruption Act which carries jail terms up to 10 years and fines of over USD 5,50,000. Local media reports said the accused was also fined Sri Lankan Rupees (SLR) 85 million and ord

UK sanctions 4, including Sri Lanka military commanders, for rights abuses

The UK has sanctioned four individuals, including military commanders, who had led the Sri Lankan government's successful campaign against the LTTE in 2009, for human rights abuses and violations. A UK foreign office statement on Monday said General Shavendra Silva, former Head of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, Wasantha Karannagoda, former Navy Commander, and Jagath Jayasuriya, former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, and Vinyagamurthy Muralidaran, the deputy leader of the LTTE who later turned a rebel of the group and became a deputy minister in the national parliament, were sanctioned and subjected to UK travel bans and asset freezes. The UK government has imposed sanctions on 4 individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses and violations during the Sri Lanka civil war, including extrajudicial killings, torture and/or perpetration of sexual violence," the statement said. The UK government's sanctions on General Silva follow a similar action against him by the US State ...

Wickremesinghe slams Dissanayake govt for Adani energy project failure

Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has criticised President Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led government for failing to move ahead with a Renewable Energy Project in Mannar with Indian Conglomerate, Adani. Wickremesinghe made these remarks during a televised discussion on Saturday the text of which was released on Monday. He also stressed the need for Sri Lanka to enhance economic cooperation with India to maximise results for the island nation. Wickremesinghe said during his two-year term in 2022, he emphasised a South India-focused economic framework in areas of renewable energy, agriculture, and trade links. "I explored many avenues for economic cooperation with India. Regrettably, the current government has failed to pursue the Adani renewable project in Mannar." He criticised them for failing to move ahead with the Renewable Energy Project in Mannar with Indian Conglomerate, Adani. He said he saw no logic in the NPP government's attempt to renegotiate the Adani gre