When the first flight arrived at Kushinagar airport on Wednesday, it was not Gota or Mahinda who stepped out, but another Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's minister of sports.
A unique protest has been launched by protestors in Sri Lanka with underwear placed on the temporary metal barriers erected to block protesters at the main entrance to the island's parliament.
MEA xpokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India continues to closely follow the developments in Sri Lanka and that it is aware of the many challenges that the country and its people have been facing.
As the economic situation worsens in Sri Lanka with each passing day, Saturday saw the angriest protests against the Rajapaksas's government in Colombo.
Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. A crippling shortage of foreign reserves has led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas and other essentials while power cuts and soaring food prices heaped misery on the people.
Video footage from inside the building showed hundreds of protesters packing into rooms and corridors, while hundreds also milled around the grounds outside.
The Sri Lankan government has appointed an advisory committee comprising eminent economic and fiscal experts to provide guidance on addressing the current debt crisis and engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders as the country struggles to combat the unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.
Sri Lanka's main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) on Tuesday handed over to the parliamentary Speaker motions of no-confidence against the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition government and embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, even as the government announced the appointment of a cabinet sub-committee to look into the proposal for a new Constitution.
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 whereabouts of Mahinda Rajapaksa is being speculated since his resignation on Monday.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Gotabaya Rajapaksa's flight.
Rajapaksa wants to have a conversation with a supremely-fit Kohli, who he calls the 'Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket'.
The five-time prime minister was re-appointed to the job on May 12 following the political circus precipitated by the unprecedented economic crisis in the island's history.
ICC Match Referee Roshan Mahanama joined his countrymen in the protest against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in Colombo.
There was a 'fascist threat' to democracy in Sri Lanka and 'we can't let them tear up our Constitution', acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe told the crisis-hit nation on Wednesday, as he vowed to restore normalcy as well as stop the destruction of state property.
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.
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's residence in the city of Kurunegala in the north-western province was set on fire on Monday, hours after the leader tendered his resignation.
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 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.
Sri Lanka has also imposed a police curfew in Western Province for six hours.
Parliament met for a brief special session on Saturday to announce the vacancy in the presidency following the resignation of Rajapaksa.
'The High Commission would like to categorically deny speculative reports in sections of media and social media about #India sending her troops to Sri Lanka. These reports and such views are also not in keeping with the position of the Government of #India,' the Indian mission said on Twitter.
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.
All the ministers who participated in this meeting were of the opinion that as soon as there is an agreement to form an all-party government, they will hand over the responsibilities to that government, it said.
As the protests in Colombo against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa continued on Tuesday, elsewhere on the island -- in southwestern Rambukkana -- police opened fire at anti-government protestors, killing at least one person and injuring 13 others.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.
Sri Lankan security forces raided the main anti-government protest camp at the President's Secretariat in Colombo early on Friday, arresting nine people and injuring several others, as the protesters continued to occupy the sensitive area despite the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president.
Thousands of student activists from the Inter University Students Federation blocked the main access road to the parliamentary complex since Thursday and carried on protests for almost 24 hours.
The emergency was imposed because of the mass scale protests planned for April 3 against the current economic hardships faced by the people.
Democratic Left Front politician Nanayakkara was among the 42 members who declared independence in Parliament from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition.
In an interview with France24, Wickremesinghe said, "We are a neutral country, but we also emphasise the fact that we cannot allow Sri Lanka to be used as a base for any threats against India."
Smarting from back-to-back defeats, Sunrisers Hyderabad will have a lot to ponder, especially addressing their batting frailties, when they take on high-flying Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Dhawan struck a mature unbeaten 88 to help Punjab Kings beat CSK
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday, hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters outside embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office, leaving at least 78 people injured and prompting authorities to impose a nationwide curfew and deploy army troops in the capital.
Two months after the protests in Colombo began over Sri Lanka's terrifying economic crisis, the daily demonstrations outside the presidential palace and other government buildings refuse to die down.
Warner and Marsh are part of the Australian team which is scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka in June-July to play three T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests.
Outside parliament, Sri Lankans continued their protests against their newly elected president, who they charge with being close to the Rajapaksa political dynasty.
'No one in Sri Lanka could afford to stay at home, everyone came onto the street.'
Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday elected as Sri Lanka's new President by Parliament, in a rare move that could provide continuity for ongoing discussions with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout for the cash-strapped nation but a development likely to anger anti-government protesters who have been demanding his resignation from office for weeks.
New Delhi has a chance to rid itself of its image as the bully in the subcontinent by helping a neighbour tackle problems that India, for once, has no role in creating. It should grab the opportunity with both hands, suggests Aditi Phadnis.
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