The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday adopted a resolution against Sri Lanka's rights record, in a setback to Colombo, which made determined efforts to garner international support ahead of the voting.
A statement from the finance ministry said, 'it shall be the policy of the Sri Lankan government to suspend normal debt servicing...shall apply to amounts of affected debts outstanding on April 12, 2022'.
However, with the current advisory from India's Ministry of External Affairs against traveling to Bangladesh and considering the volatile situation, the ICC is preparing contingency plans.
A Sri Lankan parliamentarian of the ruling party of the Rajapaksas and his personal security officer were killed on Monday in clashes between anti- and pro-government protesters in the country.
Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday met Defence Minister A K Antony in New Delhi. Rajapaksa and his Indian counterpart Shashikant Sharma had discussed increasing the frequency of joint exercises, training of Lankan officers in Indian institutes, supply of non-lethal defence equipment and other issues.
Rajapaksa has departed from the Maldives on Saudi Airline flight SV 788 to Singapore, sources said.
ICC Match Referee Roshan Mahanama joined his countrymen in the protest against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in Colombo.
Sri Lanka's main opposition party Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) on Monday said it is ready to lead the next government to bring stability to the bankrupt island nation as it grapples with political and economic crises and any resistance to the move in Parliament will be seen as a 'treacherous act'.
The Sri Lankan government on Sunday lifted the ban it had imposed on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram after declaring a nationwide public emergency and effecting a 36-hour curfew ahead of a planned anti-government rally over the worst economic crisis in the island nation.
President Rajapaksa, through a special gazette last month, appointed the 13-member task force for the establishment of a 'One Country, One Law' concept in Sri Lanka and comprised members from the majority Sinhala and minority Muslim communities.
A protest has begun in front of the Trincomalee Naval Base after reports Mahinda Rajapaksa and some of his family members are there after leaving Temple Trees, the official residence of prime minister.
The High Commission said it was striving to return to its normal functioning soon.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday met Sri Lanka's top leadership and discussed a host of issues, including the debt crisis faced by the island nation, investments, promoting tourism and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as the two countries marked the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
India on Sunday said it stands with the Sri Lankan people in their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means, established institutions and constitutional framework.
According to observers, with pro-China Rajapaksa winning the election, the result will have a bearing on India's presence in the Indian Ocean region where Beijing is increasingly making inroads.
This is the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka's parliament has directly elected a president.
A statement issued by the presidential media division on Friday said an extremist group was behind the unrest near President Rajapaksa's residence in Mirihana.
Sri Lanka's main Opposition parties on Sunday agreed to form an all-party interim government after the anticipated resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, following unprecedented political turmoil that forced him and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to offer their resignations over the mishandling of the nation's crippling economic crisis.
Sri Lanka's ministry of defence on Tuesday ordered the army, air force and navy personnel to open fire on anyone looting public property or causing harm to others amidst violent protests in the island nation over the unprecedented economic crisis.
New Delhi is approaching Gota with an open mind, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The protestors protest against interim President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe demanding his resignation at the compound of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is currently facing public demand for his resignation over his mishandling of the economic crisis, is the man who ruthlessly ended Sri Lanka's nearly 30-year civil war with the LTTE with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009.
Sri Lanka has also imposed a police curfew in Western Province for six hours.
The vote on a critical resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva has been postponed to Tuesday, as Colombo stepped up efforts to garner international support ahead of the voting which is being seen as an acid test for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lankans celebrated Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation as president, but they will understandably be concerned about the outcome of Wednesday's presidential election.
The 225-member Parliament will elect the new president by a secret vote on July 20, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said on Friday.
The move is aimed at preventing masses from gathering in Colombo to protest the government's failure to provide relief to the public suffering from shortages of food, essentials, fuel and medicine amidst hours-long power cuts, the Colombo Page newspaper reported.
Sri Lankan protesters have vowed to continue their struggle for a complete change of the system by abolishing the presidency, as the popular uprising that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President marked the 100th day on Sunday.
'The Indian government is better prepared this time and has reached out to all contenders and not putting all eggs in one basket.'
During a meeting of parties convened on Sunday ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Tamil Nadu-based Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam demanded India intervene in the neighbouring country which is facing a debilitating economic crisis.
So who will be the chief guest at this year's parade on Rajpath (no, it ain't Central Vista yet!)? Dominic Xavier ponders over the question
'The economic crisis hit us from nowhere. No one saw it coming.'
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the country's acting president after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet on Wednesday in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the economy that has bankrupted the country.
Earlier it was claimed that the MP committed suicide by shooting himself after he opened fire at two members of the group which had surrounded his vehicle on Monday.
A top Sri Lankan official, who claimed before a parliamentary panel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly influenced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to award a wind power project to the Adani Group in this island nation, resigned on Monday, a day after retracting his earlier statement.
Sri Lanka's new Finance Minister Ali Sabry on Tuesday resigned, a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him after sacking his brother Basil Rajapaksa amidst the island nation's worst economic crisis.
His whereabouts was unknown as protesters have now occupied both his office and official residence.
Dealing with the Sirisena government in Sri Lanka, says G Ganapathy Subramaniam, is a lot easier for India than engaging with the Rajapaksa regime.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna's (JVP) broader front National People's Power (NPP), on Sunday consolidated his lead in the Sri Lanka's presidential election.
Angry protests in Colombo as Sri Lanka grapples with its worst ever economic crisis.
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