Page 39 - Sri Lanka

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy meets Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa brothers

Senior BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy on Thursday met Gotabaya Rajapaksa here, becoming the first foreign visitor to call on the ousted Sri Lankan president, following his return to Colombo after fleeing the country amidst unprecedented protests against his government's mishandling of the island nation's economy. Swamy, a close friend of the Rajapaksa family who is in Sri Lanka to attend a conference of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University on national security, also met with Gotabaya's brother Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday evening and attended the Navratri pooja at his residence, sources said on Thursday. "Swamy, a close friend of the Rajapaksa brothers attended the Navaratri pooja held at Mahinda Rajapaksa's official residence last night before calling on Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning," sources said. Swamy has become the first foreign visitor to call on Gotabaya since he returned early this month after his self-imposed exile after facing a violent nationwide prote

Sri Lanka's Parliament to debate 22nd constitutional amendment next week

Sri Lankan lawmakers will debate next week on the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution aimed at empowering Parliament over the executive president. Party leaders agreed to take up the debate on the 22nd Amendment in Parliament on October 6 and 7, Communications Department of Parliament said on Thursday. The decision was taken at the Business Committee meeting held at Parliament Complex on Thursday morning chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. If enacted, the amendment would come to be known as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka which was first adopted in 1978. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that the bill seeking the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution can be adopted with a two-thirds majority in the House but some clauses will require a nationwide referendum unless some of the clauses inconsistent with the Constitution are left out of the Bill. The government responded then saying that debatable clauses would be left out for its adoption in ...

Sri Lanka backs India, Japan's bids for permanent status at UNSC: President

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said his government will back the bids of India and Japan for permanent member status at the UN Security Council. President Wickremesinghe is currently in Japan to attend the state funeral of the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. During a meeting with Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday, Wickremesinghe "appreciated the support extended by Japan (to Sri Lanka) on the international stage and expressed the government's willingness to support both Japan's and India's campaign to become permanent members of the UN Security Council, the President's office said in a press release. India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the UN body, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st century. At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent mem

Lankan official blames poor quality oil imports for power plant's shutdown

A senior Sri Lankan official has blamed poor quality crude oil imports for the shutdown of a power plant, leading to extended blackouts amid the ongoing economic crisis in the island nation

Lankan govt designates high-security zones for ensuring stability: Official

The Sri Lankan government on Monday defended its decision to declare several key locations in Colombo as high-security zones, saying the move is aimed at ensuring stability and not curbing freedom of expression, amid mounting criticism from rights groups. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday declared several locations, including Parliament, the Supreme Court complex and the President's Secretariat among others, as high-security zones (HSZs), banning any kind of protest or agitation in their vicinity. HSZs are nothing new. We saw how the Presidential Secretariat came to be surrounded by groups recently. They blocked officials from functioning. If the main place where key decisions are made is blocked, we have to take decisions to prevent it, said Kamal Gunaratne, the secretary to the ministry of defence. Sri Lanka's Presidential Secretariat was stormed in July by a sea of anti-government protesters who had been demanding former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignatio

84 arrested in Sri Lanka as protests erupt in Colombo, state media reports

A total of 84 people have been arrested by Sri Lankan police as several protestors gathered in Colombo raising their voice against what they claimed was "suppression", media reports said

Lanka declares key govt building locations in Colombo as high security zone

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday declared several key locations in Colombo, including Parliament, Supreme Court complex and the President's Secretariat among others, as high security zones, banning any kind of protest or agitation in premises near to it. The move, which are restrictions to those of during Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) days that saw suicide explosions at such key locations, prevents even parking of cars in any of the areas near to the premises of the key government buildings. Significantly some of the designated locations were the sites for large public agitations which demanded the resignation of the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa between early April to mid July as civilians across the island nation agitated against Rajapaksha family for handling of Sri Lanka's economic crisis, which it even now is unable to recover from. In an extraordinary gazette notification issued on Friday, the President's Secretariat has declared key government

Bhutan reopens to those willing to pay $200 per day visitor tax: Report

Bhutan has increased its Sustainable Development Fee from $65 a night as part of a "renewed focus of sustainability" in the government's strategy to attract "high value, low volume" tourism

Indian envoy calls on Sri Lankan PM Gunawardena, discusses bilateral issues

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay has called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and discussed wide-ranging bilateral issues, including investments, shared heritage and capacity building in the crisis-hit island nation. India has been the biggest provider of aid this year to its southern neighbour, which is fighting its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades and struggling to pay for imports. The Indian High Commission last week held the first round of talks with the Sri Lankan Government on restructuring the bilateral official debt of the island nation. The discussions symbolise India's support to early conclusion and approval of a suitable IMF Programme for Sri Lanka, for which financing assurances from creditors to make Sri Lanka's debt sustainable are required, it had said in a statement after the talks. "High Commissioner called on H.E PM @DCRGunawardena. Discussed broad ranging bilateral issues of common interest including investments, shared herit

Sri Lanka's inflation jumps to 70.2% amidst worst-ever economic crisis

Sri Lanka's inflation surged to 70.2 per cent in August from 66.7 per cent a month ago as the island nation is grappling with the worst economic crisis, according to official data released on Thursday. The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) which determines how much people spend on a selected basket of goods and services grew 2.5 per cent in August with food prices rising 1.7 per cent and non-foods rising 3.2 per cent. The non-food inflation surged to 57.1 per cent in August from 52.4 per cent in July as there was a sharp hike in electricity tariffs. However, the monthly prices eased to 3.2 per cent, from 6.7 per cent in July. The core prices measured, leaving the volatile items such as food, energy and transport accelerated in August to 60.5 per cent, from 57.3 per cent in July. According to official data, food prices have risen by 84.6 per cent, compared to 82.5 per cent in July while the changes in prices measured monthly, decelerated to 1.7 per cent, from 4.6 per cent in ...

Amid economic crisis, Sri Lanka's inflation rate jumps to 70.2%

Amid the worst-ever economic crisis since the country gained independence in 1948, Sri Lanka's inflation rate jumped to 70.2 per cent in August, official data revealed on Thursday.

Fallen Rajapaksas back Wickremesinghe as Lanka's creditors seek answers

Much has changed since demonstrators drove Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office in July, the climax of months of protests after record-high inflation and depleted currency reserves bankrupted the nation

India starts debt-restructuring talks with Sri Lanka, vows support

"The discussions held in a cordial atmosphere symbolise India's support to early conclusion and approval of a suitable IMF programme for Sri Lanka," the High Commission said.

Sri Lanka to seek India or China's credit line for solar panel imports: Min

Sri Lanka intends to seek an Indian or Chinese credit line for the purchase of solar panels as a solution to mitigate the high cost of electricity tariffs, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said on Tuesday amid calls by the influential Buddhist clergy to protest against the rising electricity price. We have the problem of foreign exchange, making it difficult to pay for imports. One solution we have to think is to have a credit line from India or China as panels are imported from them," Wijesekara told parliament. In August, Sri Lanka hiked the electricity tariff by an average of 75 per cent, after nine years. The government is facing criticism from the Buddhist clergy, who claim that their monthly bills had reached unbearable levels. The influential Buddhist clergy has called on the public not to pay the electricity bills in protest. Wijesekara said there are over 48,000 consumer connections for religious places. Over 15,000 of them were consuming less than 30 units

Sri Lankan Navy apprehends 8 Indian fishermen near Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram

The Sri Lankan Navy has apprehended 8 Indian fishermen from near here, for alleged maritime boundary violation, officials said on Tuesday. The fishermen hailed from Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu. They were picked up by the Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in that country's waters between Mullaitheevu and Neduntheevu late on Monday, Fisheries officials said. One boat was also detained.

Crisis hit-Sri Lanka to brief creditors on IMF deal for economic recovery

The Sri Lankan government will virtually brief all its external creditors on September 23 on the deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the economic recovery and the next steps in the debt restructuring process. On September 1, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement to support Sri Lanka's economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about USD 2.9 billion. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 which was triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves. "Sri Lanka will make an online presentation to external creditors on September 23 updating them on a deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund and recent economic developments," Clifford Chance, the debt restructuring adviser, said in a statement on Saturday. The Sri Lankan Finance Ministry will update creditors on recent macro-economic developments, the objectives of the IMF package, and the next steps in th

Keen to upgrade free-trade deal with India, says Sri Lanka President

Sri Lanka is keen to upgrade the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement into a comprehensive economic and technological partnership, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Friday, asserting that the work which started in 2018 and 2019 has not found much progress. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka was the first-ever bilateral trade agreement for both countries, signed in 1998 and enforced in 2000. The pact is aimed at further boosting the economic ties between the two countries by liberalising trade norms. "Sri Lanka and India gradually have to wean themselves out of the barriers to investment and the non-tariff barriers to trade especially in relation to Sri Lanka Indo economic relations, Wickremesinghe said while addressing a gathering of the Sri Lanka-India Society to mark the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence. He said the future relations of India with its neighbours will be determined by trade integration. "Trade integration gives an economic base. The .

Sri Lanka's ex-president Sirisena named suspect in Easter Sunday attacks

A Sri Lankan court on Friday named former president Maithripala Sirisena as a suspect in the 2019 Easter bombings in which 270 people, including 11 Indians, were killed. The Colombo Fort magistrate's court, which pronounced the judgement, accused Sirisena of neglecting intelligence reports on the impending attack leading to the bombings. Sirisena, 71, will now have to appear in court on October 14. The former president was earlier held as responsible for the attack by a probe panel he was forced to appoint following pressure from the Catholic Church and the relatives of the victims. He had denied the allegation. On April 21, 2019, nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 270 people.

Sri Lanka will not be part of any Indian Ocean turf war, says President

Sri Lanka will not take part in any "big power rivalry" in the Indian Ocean and it is unfortunate that his country has been made the "punching bag" for Hambantota, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, weeks after India and China clashed over the docking of a high-tech Chinese ship at the country's southern port. Sri Lanka certainly does not want the problems of the Pacific coming to the Indian Ocean, he said while speaking on the crisis-hit country's position on the geo-political stage. "We don't participate in a military alliance, and we certainly do not want the problems of the Pacific coming to the Indian Ocean. We don't want this to be an area of conflict and an area of war. Sri Lanka will not take part in any big power rivalry," said Wickremesinghe on Wednesday while addressing the graduation ceremony of the National Defense College. His remarks came weeks after the Chinese embassy and the Indian High Commission here clashed verbally over the docking of the Chinese ship 'Yu

India plans no more funding for Sri Lanka as IMF talks progress: Report

'We have already given $3.8 billion worth of assistance. Now it's all about the IMF'