Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit India later this month, primarily to lay the foundation stone of a Centre for Buddhist Studies in Madhya Pradesh's Sanchi, home to some of the vital and finest Buddhist monuments.
While Sri Lanka's state media chose to ignore Sarath Fonseka's release from prison, pro-government newspapers said on Tuesday that the former army chief had become a "political pawn" in the hands of foreign countries against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Jailed former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka was on Friday granted bail by the high court in Colombo in a case for harbouring military deserters, ahead of an imminent presidential pardon for him.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked Sri Lanka to find a speedy political solution to the underlying factors behind the country's civil war which ended three years ago.
Former Sri Lankan army chief General Sarath Fonseka has said that he will lead an Arab Spring-style uprising in his country to force the government from office. Fonseka, who was jailed for running as an opposition candidate, launched a bitter attack on President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom he accused of persecuting his family and terrorising opponents, and pledged a new campaign to topple his government.
Sri Lanka on Friday briefed India about steps being taken towards political reconciliation with ethnic Tamils, amid a growing unease over the slow pace of reforms to enable devolution of power to the war ravaged north.
Heavy rain delayed the start of South Africa-Sri Lanka World Twenty20 match at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, on Saturday.
A man who tried to attempt self-immolation here protesting the proposed visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to India died on Tuesday, the police said.
The president has agreed to call a parliamentary session on November 5, officials at Rajapaksa's office said.
Sri Lanka's new government on Sunday said it will probe whether longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa sought military help to cling to power after he realised that he had lost the closely contested election.
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
President Maithripala Sirisena's new Cabinet was also sworn in and Rajapaksa was named the new minister of finance and economic affairs.
India on Tuesday asked Sri Lanka to "seize" the opportunity of achieving genuine national reconciliation through recommendations of a post-war panel, as Colombo assured it of its commitment to resolve the long-standing ethnic conflict by devolving powers to the Tamil-dominated provinces.
Over 15 million voters are eligible to vote in the election being held under electoral districts-based proportional representation system.
Sri Lanka must address the issue of reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the country with "a sense of urgency", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in Colombo on Saturday. Swaraj, who is leading a 12-member Indian parliamentary delegation, said she had told Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the current stalemate and the deadlock on the talks with the Tamil National Alliance over the parliamentary select committee process must be broken.
Sri Lanka must address the issue of reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the country with "a sense of urgency", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in Colombo on Saturday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said adapting quickly to the conditions will be the key to his team's success in the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Hanbantota on Saturday.
Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga does not share the view that India's vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council was a "letdown" as she feels that there must have been "justifiable reasons" for the decision.
The 2009 Lahore terror attack is yet to become even a distant memory but Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse has reportedly given his consent to the country's cricket team touring Pakistan again.
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.
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.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday asked the Tamil National Alliance, country's main Tamil political party, to shed the 'LTTE mentality' and join hands with the government to deal with various contentious issues.
Ajantha Mendis bettered his own T20 record by taking six wickets for just eight runs as Sri Lanka walloped minnows Zimbabwe by 82 runs in the opening match of the World Twenty20 tournament in Hambantota on Tuesday.
Maithripala Sirisena, the Sri Lankan president-elect, will be sworn-in on Friday evening following his stunning victory in the tightest-ever presidential race that ended the 10-year-rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka have included seam bowler Lasith Malinga in their T20 and one day international squads for the home series against Pakistan starting next month.
Sri Lanka's war hero Sarath Fonseka walked free from prison on Monday on a presidential pardon after spending two years behind bars for crossing swords with the powerful president and dabbling into politics.
The reconciliation commission studying Sri Lanka's ethnic war and its aftermath is ready with its final report and may present it to President Mahinda Rajapaksa over the next 15 days. Officials said on Monday that the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission is being readied for presentation to the President who will then decide on making it public. LLRC spokesman Lakshman Wickremasinghe said the report could be presented to Rajapaksa before the November 15
Having commenced the new season with a comfortable victory in the first ODI, favourites India will be aiming to keep up the momentum when they take on hosts Sri Lanka in the second cricket ODI in Hambantota.
India on Thursday underlined the need for Sri Lanka to devolve powers to Tamil-dominated provinces envisaged under a key constitutional amendment in a "very visible manner" to fulfill the political aspirations of the minority ethnic community.
Keen to see the decades-old ethnic crisis resolved, India on Tuesday told Sri Lanka that the "most important" issue before it was to come out with a political solution that fulfills the aspirations of the minority Tamils.
Ex-Sri Lanka captain Hashan Thilekaratne has reportedly alleged that two former senior Lankan cricketers -- Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya -- and former Sri Lanka Cricket Board President Thilanga Sumathipala were involved in fixing international matches.
Seeking to mollify Sri Lanka after the vote against it in United Nations Human Rights Council, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday wrote to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, telling him that India made all efforts and succeeded in introducing an "element of balance" in the United States-sponsored resolution.
India's five-match ODI series and one T20 International against Sri Lanka will be played from July 22 to August 7 across three venues.
A federal United States court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, noting he is immune from lawsuits as a sitting Head of State. Dismissing the case on Thursday, the US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said that Rajapaksa has immunity as head of the State.
Foreign coaches in Sri Lanka are all set to gain from new tax laws outlined in the government budget of 2012, officials said on Thursday.
On the lingering Tamil issue, Modi said he was confident that the Sri Lankan government will carry forward the reconciliation process and fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil community.
The book, Gota's War, talks about India's "covert" role in LTTE's growth as the outfit undertook frequent terrorist strikes in the island.
Amid speculation that the crucial Sri Lankan probe into the three-decade ethnic conflict may be kept under wraps, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to make the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission findings public.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna arrived in Colombo on Monday on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka during which he will meet the country's top leadership and tour the war-ravaged northern areas.
The first set of houses built by India in Jaffna for ethnic Tamils will be handed over when External Affairs Minister S M Krishna travels to Sri Lanka on Monday for a four-day visit during which the steps for their rehabilitation and political reconciliation will be discussed.
