New Delhi is approaching Gota with an open mind, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'No one in Sri Lanka could afford to stay at home, everyone came onto the street.'
Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening, local media reported.
The attorney general instructed the authorities to charge them for their failure to prevent the Easter terror attacks.
India has strongly raised with Sri Lanka the concerns over the plight of Tamil fishermen
The SLPP, led by prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament, according to the results announced by the election commission.
Speaking as the chief guest at the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo, the prime minister said that the themes of social justice and sustainable world peace, chosen for the Vesak day, resonate deeply with Buddha's teachings.
'The worry among many international actors is whether there will be stability to provide assistance to the government because the political developments in the last few months are a real concern.'
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday dissolved the parliament, paving the way for fresh parliamentary elections in mid August, eight months ahead of the schedule.
Though dubbed as the "war hero", the role of Rajapaksa in ending the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009 is quite divisive as he stands accused of violating human rights, a charge he vehemently denies.
'This is a historical moment in the political history of Sri Lanka.' 'You can see the amount of pressure that is coming from the people because nobody addressed the policy blunders, multiple corruption charges and huge scandals.'
The Indian authorities have to reconfirm that Prabhakaran is dead. It may require seeking assistance from Interpol and also involve the re-opening of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and more so, the investigations, formally or otherwise, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Reflecting growing congruence in ties, India and Sri Lanka on Tuesday held extensive talks on sticky fishermen issue, ensuring justice to Tamils and ways to deepen trade and defence engagements besides resolving to intensify cooperation in combating terror and securing the maritime neighbourhood.
Even as the polity find ways and means to address the genuine concerns and fears of the society, the Sri Lankan State apparatus would have to unravel these mystery-questions with convincing answers, and a road-map to the future, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
Mahinda Rajapaksa recovered from his 2015 electoral losses, went to the people and campaigned about the injustice done to him. Without attempting to be subtle, he underscored his image of the Sinhala Buddhist warrior a la Dutugemunu, the king of Sri Lanka (164 BC to 140 BC) who led the military campaign against the invading warlord Elara.
Arjuna Ranatunga was arrested on Monday for the first violent incident amidst the on going political crisis in the country.
Maithripala Sirisena, who scored a stunning victory, was on Friday sworn-in as Sri Lankan president, bringing the curtains down on the 10-year rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa, marking a smooth transition of power.
Authorities also released photographs of six suspects, including three women, wanted for their involvement in the attacks and sought information regarding them from the public.
The ATR 72-600 aircraft was accorded water salute as it landed at the Jaffna airport, about 400-km from capital Colombo.
Pakistan have assured maximum security to the touring Sri Lankan cricket team after reports of a possible terrorist threat had put the limited over series in jeopardy.
Unofficial results indicate that the SLPP would comfortably win at least 17 out of the 22 districts on offer.
"My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the injured," Modi said.
PM also invoked 'chai pe charcha', saying it was not just a slogan but a 'mark of deep respect for the dignity and integrity of honest labour'.
Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday accepted defeat in the parliamentary elections even before the announcement of the final results.
Asserting a war was not an option between India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka on Wednesday said cross-border terrorism was a core issue on the table for SAARC and the members of eight-nation grouping have to discuss it and its impact before moving forward.
The residents near the dump had been protesting for months, demanding that the garbage dump be relocated. The authorities, however, claim that they had given enough warning to the slum dwellers to relocate themselves.
The 74-year-old leader, who describe himself as "a rebel with a cause", earlier served as the country's president from 2005-2015, becoming South Asia's longest-serving leader. He was also prime minister for a brief period in 2018.
'We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and maybe later on did his post-graduate in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka'
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on a two-day visit during which she is expected to discuss the fishermen's issue and rights of minority Tamils with the Lankan leadership.
Indian writer Anuradha Roy on Saturday won the prestigious $50,000 (Rs 33.89 lakh) DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.
Security has been beefed up in Sri Lanka as the army increased its deployment by 1,300 to 6,300.
National flags were lowered and people bowed their heads as the silence began at 8:30 am local time, the time the first of the attacks occurred on Sunday.
President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will transform Sri Lanka's political landscape after Thursday's electoral triumph, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran Colombo watcher.
Sri Lanka's former World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga says the administration of the game in the country is 'disgusting' and he has stopped following the national team for this reason.
Meanwhile, a three-member committee appointed to probe the attacks that killed 258 people, including 11 Indians, on Monday submitted its final report to President Maithripala Sirisena.
A major fire at one of Sri Lanka's largest ammunition depots triggered a series of explosions, killing one soldier.
Around 300 soldiers deployed for the rescue mission also saved some 180 people trapped in Aranayake village besides recovering 13 bodies from the area.
President Maithripala Sirisena has issued a gazette notice banning three Islamic extremist organisations, including National Thowheeth Jama'ath that was blamed for the Easter bombings.
