Seeking a "decisive shift" in the Centre's stance vis-a-vis Sri Lanka on the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure the release of 33 fishermen, arrested by the island nation's navy, and ensure a lasting solution to the issue.
'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.
The protesting fishermen have refused to accept the body of the fisherman unless a central minister visits the island and gives them an assurance that such incidents would not happen again, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President S Emiret said.
The Lankan president threatened serious action if the LTTE does not stop the killings.
A United Nations human rights expert has claimed that gruesome footage from the final days of Sri Lanka's civil war is authentic and proves war crimes took place there.
A staunch supporter of slain LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran, he also criticised the former prime minister for sending the Indian Peacekeeping Force to Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
His debut novel The Story of a Brief Marriage, set in the backdrop of the civil war.
Sri Lanka, under global pressure over its human rights record, on Thursday launched a six-month census to count the number of casualties during the final phase of the brutal civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009.
'Given that they are playing at home and will have full crowd support, India, who are in peak form and whose morale is high, will be the favourites.'
War-displaced Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka can now hope to have better dwelling facilities, with India and Sri Lanka on Tuesday signing a memorandum of understanding for construction of 49,000 houses at a cost of $260 million (about Rs 1,352 crore).
'During Congress rule, the government used to get both the fishermen and the boats released whenever the Sri Lankan navy apprehended them.' 'Under BJP rule, only the fishermen are being released.'
The European Union on Tuesday stepped up pressure on Sri Lanka to probe alleged human rights abuses during the 25-year ethnic war that came to an end after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers.
The party is looking at Amit Shah's visit to Tamil Nadu and the PM's to Sri Lanka to boost its expansions efforts in the state for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reports Archis Mohan.
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
Sri Lanka on Friday dismissed as "baseless" the United Nation's internal report on the failure of the world body to protect Tamil civilians in the final months of country's brutal war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, saying it was an attempt to castigate the nation.
Seasoned players Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh were rested while Yuvraj Singh was recalled in the 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming cricket tri-series in Sri Lanka, beginning from August 10.
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.
Modi strongly pitched for enhanced cooperation in key areas of maritime security and counter-terrorism.
The Sri Lankan police have arrested two rights activists under an anti-terrorism law to prevent them from spreading "communal disharmony" in the country's war-torn northern region, ahead of voting on a resolution against the country at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
There is a split in the United Progressive Government over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on November 15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Some Union ministers including Finance Minister P Chidambaram want the PM to skip the session, said sources.
-- Seven suicide bombers believed to be members of an Islamist extremist group carried out the series of explosions. -- Police have so far arrested 24 people - mostly members of an Islamist extremist group - in connection with the blasts
Sri Lanka's Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera on Monday allayed India's fears on increasing Chinese military presence in the island nation, as he categorically stated that his nation will never compromise on India's national security or for that matter of any other country.
Publicly, India maintained it would not give Sri Lanka any offensive weapons. The Congress party obviously did not want the shadow of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict to fall on the politics of Tamil Nadu and needlessly complicate matters during the election campaign. A fascinating exclusive excerpt from Nitin Gokhale's new book, Sri Lanka: From War to Peace.
'The blasts in Lanka are against our ideology.'
India on Thursday summoned Sri Lankan High Commissioner to seek clarification on his remarks about alleged connection between some Tamil Parliamentarians and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, after which the envoy apologised for causing "discontent" and "distress" to the MPs.
The mediators also praised India's role in the developments in the island nation.
'We urge you to consider recognising Tamil sovereignty as a constructive approach to end the five decades long, large-scale, and serious rights violations against the Tamil people,' the LTTE political head B Nadesan said in a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday.
Two years before Sri Lanka completed a crushing military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a top Indian official had told a United States diplomat that the situation was 'beyond bleak' in the country, with both the government and the rebels having scant regard for the international community. A US diplomatic cable newly released by WikiLeaks quotes a top external affairs ministry official three years ago as saying that the situation in Sri Lanka was 'bad'.
'What happened last Sunday is a great tragedy, an insult to humanity'
The prime minister also said he will meet Tamil MPs from Sri Lanka.
At a crowded beachfront mass, Pope Francis canonised Sri Lanka's first saint on Wednesday.
Expressing dismay over reports of Indian Coast Guard participating in naval exercises with Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to recall the two ships and Coast Guard personnel participating in the event in the island nation.
The United States asked Sri Lanka to carry out credible probe on violations of human rights during the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam war, as it warned it of more international pressure on the issue.
The issue of fishermen continues to be thorny in the relations across the Palk Straits as the Sri Lankan Navy is often accused of harassing the Tamil Nadu fishermen.
Sirisena's sacking of Wickremesinghe was the culmination of an year of bitter relations between them on several policy matters. The president has been critical of the prime minister and his policies, especially on economy and security.
Notwithstanding stiff opposition from political parties in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka on Wednesday asserted that it was 'very firm' on continuing the training programme of its defence personnel in India and ruled out sending them to countries such as China.
Defence Secretary Fernando said Subathran was gunned down by sniper fire in Jaffna.
Seeking to exert pressure on the Centre, Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that India join western countries like the United States in bringing a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC over the alleged human rights violations during the war.
It was the first time in seven years Sri Lanka had imposed the measure. The country was under a state of emergency for nearly three decades when the government fought Tamil rebels Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the civil war that ended in 2009.
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