New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is being hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over dinner on Thursday night. He is also expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee later. Rajapaksa is expected to raise the issue of recent attacks on Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu when he meets the Prime Minister, while India may press for Tamil rights and the reconciliation process. The Prime Minister is expected to call...
04:57 PM, Sep 20, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday cautioned that separatist elements in the country have not given up yet, in a veiled reference to the Tamil Eelam supporters' conference held in Chennai recently. "Though we have ended terrorism, there is lot more remaining to be done. Forty years ago they passed a resolution seeking separation of the country. The conference held recently also boosts Eelam demand," Rajapaksa told a...
01:23 PM, Aug 16, 2012
Colombo: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo and requested him to mobilise other Tamil parties in the northern province besides the dominant TNA to achieve political reconciliation. Swamy, who is in Sri Lanka to attend an international seminar, discussed with the President the ethnic issue and devolution of power to the Tamil-dominated province on Thursday. He said after the meeting that Rajapaksa wants...
10:59 AM, Aug 10, 2012
Colombo: A batch of 75 former LTTE members rehabilitated by the government was on Saturday released to their families in the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya. "Out of the 12,000 sent for rehabilitation we have already released 11,000. Around 700 only remain to be released from four rehabilitation centres. "There are also another 600 suspects in custody who would be sent for rehabilitation", A Dissanayake, the secretary to the...
08:54 PM, Jun 02, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday ordered the release of his former Army Chief turned political rival Sarath Fonseka, paving the way for him to walk out of prison after two years. Rajapaksa signed the papers ordering for the release of Fonseka prior to his departure to Qatar, presidential spokesman Bandula Jayasekera told reporters in Colombo. The papers were handed over to presidential chief of staff Gamini Senarath...
10:27 AM, May 20, 2012
Colombo: A member of parliament in Sri Lanka said on Wednesday he believed President Mahinda Rajapaksa would soon order the release of the country's former army chief Sarath Fonseka, revered by many of his compatriots for helping end a 25-year civil war. The jailing of General Fonseka has prompted criticism in Western countries, and if he were freed it would be seen as a sign that Colombo is addressing concerns...
02:24 AM, May 17, 2012
Chennai: Terming as 'fruitful' talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on issues including devolution of powers to Tamil-speaking areas, a Congress MP, who was part of the parliamentary team that visited the island republic, on Saturday said a report would be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On their return from Sri Lanka to assess rehabilitation of internally displaced Tamils, EM Sudarsana Natchiappan, one of the four Congress MPs...
07:59 PM, Apr 21, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that he did not want lessons on human rights from outside; days after the UN Human Rights Council adopted a US-sponsored resolution censuring Colombo. Addressing a public gathering in the central town of Balangoda, Rajapaksa on Saturday said Sri Lanka's human rights protection was inspired by the influence of Buddhism over a period of over 2,500 years. The President said it was...
06:35 PM, Apr 01, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday said that his country has a rich and proud record of safeguarding human rights. Addressing a public gathering in the central town of Balangoda, Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka's human rights protection was inspired by the influence of Buddhism over a period of over 2,500 years. Rajapaksa said his objective while appointing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was that he did...
12:52 AM, Apr 01, 2012
Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has decided to shut down some of its embassies in Europe, the External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday. A spokesperson at the ministry said that the government is of the view that embassies in Europe which are not serving any purpose in obtaining support for Sri Lanka's national issues will be closed and new embassies will be opened in Asia. "President Mahinda Rajapaksa had discussed...
02:01 PM, Mar 27, 2012
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written a letter to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, explaining why India voted in favour of the US resolution, which calls for Colombo to investigate human rights violations during its war with Tamil separatists. Here is the full text of the letter: "Thank you for your letter of March 19 regarding the ongoing session ofthe UN Human Rights Council and the introduction...
09:59 AM, Mar 25, 2012
New Delhi: India played a key role to introduce "an element of balance" in the US-sponsored resolution in Geneva on Sri Lanka rights violations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said. In a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manmohan Singh said he had instructed the Indian delegation "to remain in close contact with its Sri Lanka counterparts in an attempt to find a positive way forward." "You would be aware that...
03:53 AM, Mar 25, 2012
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday offered Sri Lanka an olive branch explaining India's vote against it at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The PM in his letter said that Delhi made every effort to ensure the resolution was balanced. The PM said that it is India's conviction that a meaningful devolution package would lead towards a lasting political solution. "I had instructed our delegation to...
07:06 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lanka is blowing hot and cold against India following the passage of a resolution in Geneva that raised questions over rights violations during the war on the Tamil Tigers. While President Mahinda Rajapaksa warned that countries which voted for the resolution will have to worry about consequences of terrorism, a minister mildly praised India for dilution of the impact of the resolution. India was one of 24 nations...
02:48 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Islamabad: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has called for stepping up efforts to boost bilateral trade with Sri Lanka from the current $375 million to $2 billion in the next three years. Zardari made the appeal during his meeting with visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Islamabad on Friday. He also called for exploring a currency swap agreement. Zardari said it will provide huge incentives to businesses in both...
08:35 AM, Feb 11, 2012
Colombo: Former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam on Sunday proposed implementing his concept of PURA, which envisages providing urban amenities to rural areas as a key strategy for rural development in Sri Lanka. Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Area (PURA) envisages provision of physical, electronic and knowledge connectivities leading to economic connectivity using rural skills and competence. "I have proposed this system of PURA numbering 7,000 for inclusive development of...
11:47 PM, Jan 22, 2012
Colombo: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Wednesday flew from by chopper to Kilinochchi on way to Jaffna in the northern province of Sri Lanka to meet ethnic Tamils. He will gift medical equipment to the district general hospital at Kilinochchi on the third day of his four-day visit after fruitful official talks on Tuesday with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister DM Jayarathna and his counterpart GL Peiris...
01:04 PM, Jan 18, 2012
Colombo: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on Tuesday and is understood to have discussed a host of bilateral issues, including the ways to evolve a political solution to resolve the Tamil problem. Rajapaksa hosted Krishna this morning for the second time since Tuesday morning at 'Temple Trees', the official residence of the President of Sri Lanka, for breakfast. Last evening, Kirshna had...
10:51 AM, Jan 17, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lanka has accused the LTTE's international fronts of influencing foreign governments, including India, to support their separatist cause. Addressing a public lecture in Colombo on Tuesday titled 'Future Challenges to National Security in Sri Lanka', Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed these elements have won over a number of politicians overseas. "The Global Tamil Forum has successfully won over a number...
05:38 PM, Jan 11, 2012
Chennai: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's relative Thirukumuran Nadesan was on Tuesday attacked by MDMK activists with sticks and footwear when he was coming out of a house after a 'pooja' at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, an official said. "It is an unfortunate incident. It should not have happened. However, he is on his way to Colombo," Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, deputy high commissioner of Sri Lanka in southern India, told IANS....
04:27 PM, Jan 10, 2012
