Page 46 - Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka ruling party urges Wickremesinghe to ease Rajapaksa's return

The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party has asked President Ranil Wickremesinghe to facilitate the safety of his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa so that he can return to the crisis-hit island nation. The SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam told reporters that the request was made at a meeting held with President Wickremesinghe on Thursday, amid reports that Rajapaksa, who fled the country last month following unprecedented anti-government protests, may return to Sri Lanka next week. Rajapaksa, 73, fled the country on July 13 after tens of thousands of people stormed into his official residence on July 9. We asked the president to facilitate his return and ensure security and necessary facilities," Kariyawasam said. The Sri Lanka's Constitution allows privileges to former presidents, including personal security and an office with staff. Having gone to the Maldives on a Sri Lanka Airforce plane, the former president proceeded to Singapore from where he sent in his .

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka to ask Japan to open talks on debt restructuring

Economy may see recovery in the second half of 2023, says president

Gotabaya Rajapaksa applies for Green Card to settle in US: Report

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country last month amidst massive anti-government protests calling for his resignation, is awaiting to obtain a US Green Card to return to America and settle there with his wife and son, a media report said on Thursday. Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror, citing highly-placed sources, claimed that Rajapaksa's lawyers in the United States had already begun the procedure last month for his application to obtain the Green Card as he was eligible to apply due to his wife Loma Rajapaksa being a US citizen. In 2019, Rajapaksa renounced his US citizenship to contest the 2019 presidential polls. Rajapaksa took early retirement from the Sri Lanka Army and moved into the field of information technology, before immigrating to the United States in 1998. He returned to Sri Lanka in 2005, The procedure will also now involve his lawyers in Colombo submitting the additional documents here in order to go ahead with the procedure, the daily

IMF delegation to visit Sri Lanka this month: Central Bank Governor

The Sri Lankan government's negotiations with the IMF for a bailout package have made "good progress," the Central Bank Governor said on Thursday, indicating that a top delegation of the Washington-based lender is expected to arrive here at the end of this month to chalk out a staff-level agreement. Sri Lanka is in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis that has led to severe shortages of fuel and other essentials. The island nation of 22 million also witnessed a major political churn in recent times following massive mass protests that forced former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign from his post. "The IMF programme is making a good progress, and an IMF mission is planning to visit Sri Lanka towards the end of this month to reach a staff-level agreement on a policy package, news portal newsfirst.lk quoted Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe as saying. Weerasinghe said that after Sri Lanka reached a staff-level agreement with the

Amid political crisis, Gotabaya to return to Sri Lanka next week: Report

Sri Lanka has been facing its worst economic-political crisis, which led to massive protests in the country that forced Rajapaksa to flee abroad and also hand in his resignation last month

Adani group gets provisional approvals for renewable energy projects in SL

Adani Green Energy was issued provisional approvals for two wind power projects in northern province for an investment of over $ 500 million, Sri Lanka's Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara announced

Gotabaya Rajapaksa to return to Sri Lanka on August 24, says his cousin

Gotabaya Rajapaksa will return to Sri Lanka on August 24, his cousin Udayanga Weeratunga said on Wednesday, over a month after the former president fled the country amid mass anti-government protests over an unprecedented economic crisis. Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is grappling with its worst economic turmoil in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. The massive protests that began in March culminated with Rajapaksa's resignation. "He talked to me on the phone, I can tell you he will return to the country next week, said Weeratunga, who was Sri Lanka's ambassador to Russia from 2006 to 2015. Rajapaksa could return on August 24, he said, adding that the ousted president should not be re-elected for political positions. But he can still do some service to the country as he had done previously, Weeratunga said of the 73-year-old former Sri Lankan president. Rajapaksa is currently staying at a hotel in Bangkok in th

Rajapaksa not using state funds for expenses abroad: Sri Lankan govt

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is not using state funds for any expenses he makes abroad: Sri Lanka

China not allowed to use Hambantota Port for military purposes: Lanka Prez

China will not be allowed to use the southern port of Hambantota for military purposes, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, apparently attempting to allay fears in India and the US about China's increasing maritime presence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. Wickremesinghe said this ahead of the arrival of a high-tech Chinese research ship, which on Tuesday docked at the Hambantota Port, which Beijing took over on a 99-year-lease as a debt swap in 2017. We do not want Hambantota to be used for military purposes, Wickremesinghe said on Sunday in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper at the President's House in Colombo. His statement to the Japanese newspaper was apparently aimed at allaying fears in India and the United States about China's increasing maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific. The port was developed as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, but Colombo leased the port to Beijing in 2017 because it became unable to pay back the ...

Chinese 'spy' ship docks at Sri Lanka's Hambantota port, says report

A high-tech Chinese research ship docked at Sri Lanka's southern port of Hambantota today, days after Colombo asked Beijing to defer the port call amidst India's concern over the vessel's presence.

While high-tech ship berths at SL, China says it doesn't affect any country

They do not affect the security and the economic interests of any country and should not be obstructed by any third party," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

India gifts Dornier aircraft to strengthen maritime security of Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was present at the impressive handover ceremony which took place on a day when India celebrated its 76th Independence Day

Vice Chief of Indian Navy begins visit to SL; to hand over Dornier aircraft

Days before a Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship docks in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port, Vice Chief of Indian Navy Vice Admiral S N Ghormade began a two-day visit to the island nation on Sunday

Lanka allows docking of Chinese research ship at Hambantota port: Report

The Chinese ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship, 'Yuan Wang 5', was earlier scheduled to arrive on Thursday and remain at the port until August 17 for replenishment.

Chinese research ship steers clear of Sri Lanka's port, for now: Report

Chinese ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship 'Yuan Wang 5' was to arrive on Thursday and remain at the port until August 17 for replenishment

Ex-Sri Lankan President Gotabaya arrives in Thailand from Singapore

The Thailand Foreign Ministry said it received a request from Rajapaksa to visit the country with no intention of seeking political asylum.

'Gotabaya leaves Singapore for Thailand as short-term visit pass expires'

Sri Lanka's ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore for Thailand after his short-term visit pass expired on Thursday, according to a media report. Rajapaksa boarded a flight from Singapore to Bangkok, after Thailand confirmed a day before that it had received a request from the current Sri Lankan government for him to visit the country. Responding to media queries, Singapore's Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said that Rajapaksa left Singapore on Thursday, The Straits Times newspaper reported. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday confirmed a temporary visit to Thailand by the 73-year-old embattled Sri Lankan leader for humanitarian reasons, and said he promised not to conduct political activities in the kingdom during his search for permanent asylum in another country. Rajapaksa, who is currently in Singapore after fleeing Sri Lanka in July amid mass anti-government protests, is seeking refuge in Thailand as his Singapore visa runs out on Thursday. After ...

Ex-Sri Lankan Prez Gotabaya to stay temporarily in Thailand: PM Prayut

Thailand has agreed to allow Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stay in the country temporarily during which the ousted Sri Lankan president will search for a third nation that will offer him permanent refuge

Four months on, anti-govt protests over crisis in Sri Lanka fizzle out

Demonstrations planned by Sri Lankan opposition parties and trade unions have fizzled out, with smaller crowds turning up to mark the fourth month of an anti-government protest campaign

Prabath Jayasuriya and Emma Lamb win ICC Player of the Month Awards

The International Cricket Council has announced Sri Lankan spin sensation Prabath Jayasuriya and England batting all-rounder Emma Lamb as the winners of its Player of the Month awards for July 2022.