Veteran Sri Lankan socialist leader D M Jayaratne, a close ally of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was sworn-in on Wednesday as the country's 20th prime minister after the ruling party secured a near two-thirds majority.
As the United Nations chief planned to set up an advisory panel on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, Premier Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has accused "certain" western nations of interfering in his country's affairs and said government would only "bow down" to people's decisions.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was chosen over foreign minister Anura Bandaranaike, the brother of former president Chandrika Kumaratunga
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday left for Colombo to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation summit beginning on Saturday, during which terrorism is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion. Singh is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the summit and is likely to convey India's concerns over the recent spurt in cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday said LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has been surrounded by security forces in the tiny swathe of land on the island's northern war zone and that there was no question of him escaping from there.
Over the past four years, India has given around $281 million worth of credit, which have been used to import wheat, petroleum products and buses.
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