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.
Indian fishermen trawling near Katchatheevu were in for a big surprise on Sunday when Sri Lankan navalmen not only allowed them to fish but also offered them soft drinks and sweets.
The president has agreed to call a parliamentary session on November 5, officials at Rajapaksa's office said.
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 President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new premier. Sirisena's move has triggered a constitutional crisis in the country. Here are some points about the unfolding crisis and the role of key players:
The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Modi have learnt from their past mistakes. Modi has understood that Rajapaksa is a 'forever politician' that India has to live with, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo to work out a compromise to resolve the recurring issue of the arrest of Indian fishermen by the island nation's navy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who had boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will meet him on June 3 to take up issues relating to the state's growth.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday made a historic visit to the former war zone of Jaffna to "shine a light on the chilling events" during the last phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, hours after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa cautioned against turning the Commonwealth into a "punitive and judgemental body".
Rajapaksa's decision was to ensure public security and maintain essential services so as to ensure a smooth functioning of the country, the presidential media division said.
At least three people were killed and nearly 100 others injured when communal clashes broke out in a popular Sri Lankan tourist region, even as President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday warned rioters against taking law into their own hands in curfew-bound areas.
The Sri Lankan government on Friday reached out to fishermen community of Tamil Nadu as President Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother and economic development minister Basil met their delegation here with a promise of addressing their concerns.
Sri Lanka on Thursday freed 33 Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly poaching in the country's waters, days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered their release as a goodwill gesture.
Delhi finds itself between the rock and hard place in the coming Sri Lankan election, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A Saudi airlines flight -- SV 788 -- carrying Rajapaksa landed at the Singapore Changi International Airport shortly after 7 pm (local time).
Xi Jinping is winning the war without firing a shot in Sri Lanka, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
PM Modi is due in Colombo on Friday.
Sri Lanka has refused to cooperate with a United Nations investigation into alleged war crimes during the final phase of the country's civil war, saying it will not subject itself to the jurisdiction of the top rights body.
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 United States about China's increasing maritime presence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
Brushing aside opposition from the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and other parties in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa but did not give him any assurance on which way India will vote on a the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution for an independent international probe into rights abuses during the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Speaker's media secretary Indunil Abeywardena said a resignation letter from President Rajapaksa has been received through the Sri Lanka high commission in Singapore.
With some countries like Britain and Canada seeking to bring alleged human rights violations in the Sri Lankan civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam under the scanner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting summit, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday asked member nations not to turn the Commonwealth into a "punitive and judgmental" body and desist from introducing bilateral agendas.
India has dismissed reports that the Colombo station chief of the Research and Analysis Wing had been expelled in the run up to this month's Sri Lankan presidential election and maintained that he has moved out after completion of his three-year tenure.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries will meet in Kathmandu on Wednesday with an aim to revitalise the regional grouping and make it a major platform to fuel economic growth through liberalised trade and combat challenges of terrorism and climate change effectively.
Rajapaksa has blamed India, the United States and European countries for his humiliating defeat.
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has debunked international criticism over the treatment of the island nation's Tamil minority population.
LTTE leaders has been barred by SL court to travel out of the country
Wickremesinghe is the first Sri Lankan president to be elected by Parliament following a vote.
The Prime Minister's Office has convened a meeting tomorrow to explore a long-term solution to the contentious fishermen issue between India and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, under immense pressure from the public and the Opposition to quit over the island nation's worst economic crisis, said on Thursday that the abolition of the executive presidency, a move that will curb his powers, will be considered by Parliament.
The Sri Lanka deputy high commissioner's office in Chennai is coordinating the efforts, it added.
There have been growing calls for President Rajapaksa's resignation over the past few weeks over his government's mishandling of Sri Lanka's worsening economic crisis.
Reacting to the apex court's ruling, sacked Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said, "We trust that the President will promptly respect the judgment of the courts.
In a statement released on the eve of General Naravane's visit, the Indian high commission in Colombo described Sri Lanka as India's 'Priority One' partner.
Five fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were sentenced to death in Sri Lanka for alleged drug trafficking but set free after President Mahinda Rajapaksa pardoned them, arrived in Chennai on Friday.
Protests rocked different parts of Tamil Nadu for the second day on Friday against the capital punishment awarded by a Sri Lankan court to five Indian fishermen for alleged drug trafficking.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Colombo on Friday on a two-day trip to set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka next week, the first bilateral visit to the country by an Indian premier in over 25 years.
'We should expect a cold-blooded, transactional relation that requires a lot of engagement and mutual trust to sustain,' says Constantino Xavier, Fellow, foreign policy, Brookings India.
Sirisena dissolved Parliament hours after a close aide of the President said that there will be no snap elections or a national referendum to end the current crises.
