Page 5 - Sri Lanka

Colombo terminal with Adani funding tops Sri Lanka's FDI inflows in 2025

The Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) was the largest contributor to Sri Lanka's Foreign Direct Investment inflows during the first nine months on this year, investing USD 229 million in state-of-the-art port infrastructure, the Board of Investment said on Tuesday. The CWIT is an investment from Adani International Port Holdings Pte Ltd (India) and John Keells Holdings PLC in partnership with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. The Board of Investment (BOI) announced that Foreign Direct Investment inflows including foreign commercial loans for investments to BOI-approved enterprises have reached USD 827 million during the period January to September 2025, marking a remarkable 138 per cent increase compared to the corresponding value during the period in 2024. It said that the CWIT invested USD 229 million in "state-of-the-art port infrastructure under a strategic development agreement". It will expand the port's capacity by 3.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), ...

Sri Lankan PM Harini Amarasuriya meets PM Modi to discuss bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday discussed a range of issues such as development cooperation and the welfare of Indian fishermen with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. Amarasuriya met Modi at his official residence here. "Glad to welcome Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ms. Harini Amarasuriya. Our discussions covered a broad range of areas, including education, women's empowerment, innovation, development cooperation and welfare of our fishermen," Modi said in a post on X. "As close neighbours, our cooperation holds immense importance for the prosperity of our two peoples as well as the shared region," Modi said.

Sri Lanka PM Harini Amarasuriya’s first India visit: What’s on the agenda? | India-Sri Lanka ties

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya has arrived in India for her maiden official visit, a trip seen as crucial for deepening ties in trade, education, and technology.

Sri Lankan PM Harini Amarasuriya arrives in New Delhi on maiden visit

The visit continues the tradition of regular and close engagement between the two countries, strengthening the deep-rooted bonds of friendship

Indian envoy, Sri Lanka's JVP leader discuss stronger economic ties

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha met the ruling Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva to discuss recent developments in bilateral partnership and the potential of closer economic ties. High Commissioner Santosh Jha met JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva and discussed the recent developments in #IndiaSriLanka partnership, the Indian High Commission in Colombo posted on social media on Monday. The duo exchanged views on the limitless potential of closer economic ties for mutual prosperity of the people of India and Sri Lanka, it added. The meeting took place at JVP headquarters in Pelawatte, Battaramulla, and covered the current situation in Sri Lanka, including the success of the Indian housing project for displaced hill country communities, the Sri Lanka Mirror reported on Tuesday. While Silva expressed gratitude to India for its contribution, the Indian envoy pledged further assistance to Sri Lanka, the report said. The two also discussed

Sri Lankan PM Amarasuriya arrives in Beijing, to meet President Xi Jinping

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya arrived in Beijing on Sunday for an official visit during which she would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Amarasuriya will take part in the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported. On the sidelines of the meeting, she is scheduled to hold talks with Xi, Sri Lankan newspaper Sunday Times reported. Apart from President Xi, the prime minister will also meet her Chinese counterpart, Li Qiang, and senior members of the Communist Party of China and hold talks on bilateral relations. From Beijing, she will go to New Delhi to attend the NDTV World Summit 2025, where, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she will be one of the main speakers, the report said. It will be her first official visit to India. The World Summit in Delhi will be attended by Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom and Tony Abbott of Australia, the report said.

Sri Lankan Navy arrests 47 Indian fishermen, five trawlers seized

As many as 47 Indian fishermen were arrested and their five trawlers seized on Thursday at Talaimannar in northern Sri Lanka for alleged illegal fishing in the island nation's waters, the Navy here said. The arrests were made during coordinated patrols conducted in the Mannar and Delft sea areas. The 47 arrested fishermen and their equipment will be handed over to the fisheries inspectorate in the north for further action, the Navy said. The Naval command operation to arrest them began late last night and lasted until the early hours of Thursday, Navy spokesman Commander Buddika Sampath told PTI. The fishermen issue remains a contentious one in the India-Sri Lanka bilateral ties, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan territorial waters. Last month, 12 Indian fishermen were arrested and their boat seized near Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's recovery remains incomplete, urgent reforms needed: World Bank

Sri Lanka's recent economic performance has been strong, but the recovery remains incomplete, the World Bank said on Tuesday. "With growth still below pre-crisis levels and poverty significantly elevated, strengthening the recovery will require continued macroeconomic stability, urgent structural reforms, and more efficient, better-targeted public spending, it said. Sri Lanka's economy crashed in 2022 due to a forex crisis stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and other flawed political and economic management reasons since 2019. The current turnaround was aided by the four-year IMF bailout of nearly 3 billion USD pinned to a stringent reform regime. While Sri Lanka's recent economic progress is encouraging, the recovery is uneven and incomplete, said David Sislen, World Bank Division Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The World Bank projects Sri Lanka's economy to grow by 4.6 per cent in 2025 supported by a modest rebound in industry and steady growth in services before

Sri Lanka to seek legal advice on $1 bn unpaid marine disaster claim

The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday said it will consult the Attorney General on the next course of action after the owning company of a vessel failed to honour a court order directing it to pay USD 1 billion in compensation for a mishap, considered to be the worst marine disaster in the Indian Ocean. Singapore-flagged container vessel MV X-Press Pearl caught fire in May 2021 off Colombo port and burned for nearly two weeks while carrying 81 containers of hazardous chemicals, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid. The incident caused widespread marine pollution, with billions of plastic nurdles and toxic substances spilling into Sri Lankan waters, killing marine life and devastating coastal communities. Dead turtles, dolphins and whales were seen washed up onto beaches for weeks following the disaster. On July 24, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court directed the ship's owning and operating companies to pay USD 1 billion in compensation, with an initial tranche of USD 250 million due by Septem

Navy Chief Admiral Tripathi begins four-day official visit to Sri Lanka

He would also participate in the 12th edition of the Galle Dialogue 2025 - International Maritime Conference in Colombo, on the theme 'Maritime Outlook of the Indian Ocean under Changing Dynamics'

South Asia lived with inequality. Then 'nepo babies' fuelled public outrage

South Asia stayed calm as the upper-middle class aspired to a globalised life, but slowing growth, tech shifts, and travel limits, amplified by TikTok and Instagram, are stoking frustration

Adani-led Sri Lanka container terminal to double capacity ahead of deadline

Once the final phase is complete, the terminal will have the capacity to handle 3.2 million containers annually

Regimes collapse because of weak institutions, not leaders or ideologies

To be truly functional and durable, even eternal, a state doesn't just need a leader, a party, or an ideology. It needs functional and robust institutions

Gen-Z protesters across Asia challenge old guard, demand lasting reform

These demonstrations also highlight how collective youth action can force governments into retreat

Sri Lanka Parliament set to strip privileges of former presidents

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ruled that the bill to withdraw presidential privileges extended to former presidents and their widows can be approved in Parliament by a simple majority. The court's ruling was read out in Parliament on Tuesday by Speaker Jagath Wickremaratna. The Supreme Court has determined that no provision of the bill is inconsistent with any provision of the Constitution and can be enacted by Parliament with a simple majority, he said. Following the apex court's ruling, the parliamentary business committee decided to debate the bill on Wednesday. If passed, the bill will end special benefits such as an official residence, monthly allowances, secretarial support, official transport, and other perks currently provided to former presidents and their widows. Sri Lanka currently has five living former presidents and one widow entitled to these privileges. In late July, the government gazetted a new bill aimed at revoking all privileges granted to former presidents o

At least 15 killed, many injured as bus plunges over 1000ft in Sri Lanka

At least 15 people were killed and another 15 injured in a road mishap in the Badulla District of Uva Province, southern Sri Lanka, police said on Friday. A group of over 30 people were on a pleasure trip from the southern town of Tangalle when their bus went down a precipice over 1000 feet around in the Ella town around 9 pm local time on Thursday. The bus had collided with an oncoming jeep before hitting the road railing and going down. The dead include nine women. They all were employees of the Tangalle Urban Council. The rescue efforts were undertaken by the military, police, disaster management teams, and residents, the Newsfirst web portal reported. Officials said the injured have been admitted to the Badulla Teaching Hospital, with several said to be in critical condition, Adaderana reported.

INS Rana, INS Jyoti arrive in Colombo for SLINEX-25 naval exercise

The previous edition of SLINEX was conducted at Visakhapatnam, India, from December 17 to 20, 2024

Reliance Consumer Products takes Campa beverages to Sri Lanka market

RCPL partners with Ceylon Cold Stores to launch Campa beverages in Sri Lanka, expanding the heritage Indian brand's reach to more overseas markets

Sri Lanka's apparel industry alarmed by US tariff of 30%, hopes for cut

The US takes about 40 per cent of apparel exports, helping to pull in $1.9 billion last year and make the industry Sri Lanka's third largest earner of foreign exchange, employing 300,000 people

No intention of ceding Katchatheevu island, says Lankan foreign minister

Sri Lanka has no intention to cede the Katchatheevu island, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said, calling the "rumblings" in India an issue between the political parties there. We have our diplomatic channels open to resolve the issue, but what is certain is Sri Lanka will never agree to let go of a part of Sri Lanka which is Katchatheevu and established so by international law," Herath on Thursday told Sirasa TV in response to a question on frequent arrests of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters. Fishermen from both India and Sri Lanka are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each other's waters. India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on June 27 said the issue of Sri Lanka arresting Indian fishermen stems from an agreement during the Emergency, imposed in 1975, under which their rights for fishing in some specific areas were given up. Herath, however, brushed off the issue, saying that "rumblings" over the Katchatheevu issue are "political sparring ...