India’s economic assistance to Sri Lanka which stands at more than USD 3 billion in 2022 has been instrumental in addressing diverse needs of the Government and people of Sri Lanka.
The USD 1 billion Credit Facility for purchase of...
A Sri Lankan delegation, led by Minister of Finance Ali Sabry, participated in the 2022 Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group held in Washington DC during 18-22 April 2022.
The delegation had...
April 29, 2022
BANGKOK --
Sri Lanka's failure to settle interest payments on sovereign bonds and its subsequent ratings downgrade have drawn unflattering comparisons with the economic meltdown in Lebanon.
The South Asian nation on April 18 failed to pay interest of...
Colombo, April 27:
Relations between Sri Lanka and China, long believed to be iron-clad being based on mutual interest and cooperation, have come under strain lately. The relationship is at the crossroads, calling for mutual understanding and deft diplomacy to...
R. S Priyangani is defiant. ‘They killed my husband like a dog but he died like a lion’.
She says his killers must be held accountable and she wants justice for her husband.
It has been one week since her...
April 23, 2022
Colombo, April 23:
When the ruthless, militarily powerful and ideologically-driven Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the expectation was that peace ( even if it was only the peace of the graveyard) would return to the hapless...
Colombo, April 20: With pressure mounting on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit, both in parliament and on the streets of Sri Lanka, the President and his Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, are proposing constitutional changes in the hope that these...
Poet Ahnaf Jazeem was arrested under the PTA in May 2020
By P.K.Balachandran
While acknowledging that Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty, democratic republic with a freely elected government, the US State Department’s human rights report on the island nation for...
Colombo, April 14: The US State Department’s assessment of human rights violations in India in 2021 appears to be even-handed when compared with reports on some other countries. Perhaps Washington’s geopolitical interests played a role in the stance taken...
Repressive laws and political partisanship in their application mark present-day governancein Bangladesh
By P.K.Balachandran
The 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bangladeshprepared by the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, has slammed the incumbent government...
Islamabad: Whoever becomes Pakistan's next prime minister following the dismissal of Imran Khan Sunday will inherit the same issues that bedevilled the former international cricket star.
A poorly performing economy, rising militancy and shaky relations with former allies will be...
Colombo, April 7:
Sri Lanka and Pakistan are currently undergoing a rather unusual economic-cum-political crisis. In both, the population is facing economic distress and a foreign exchange shortage. And in both, there is a movement to oust the top leader,...