sri lanka

December 13, 2024 7:28 PM

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to visit India from December 15-17

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is set to embark on a state visit to India from December 15 to December 17, 2024. This will mark his first visit to India following the recently concluded presidential and parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka. According to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), President Dissanayake is expected to meet with Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. Discussions will focus on strengthening bil...

November 18, 2024 1:58 PM

Sri Lanka president keeps finance minister role, reappoints Amarasuriya as prime minister

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retained the key finance minister portfolio and reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister on Monday as the Indian Ocean island nation targets stronger recovery from a draining financial crisis. Dissanayake, whose leftist coalition won a record 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in a general election last week, also reappointed veteran legislator Vijitha Herath to helm the foreign affairs ministry. Dissanayake, who has held the key fin...

November 14, 2024 10:09 AM

Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election: Voting begins to elect 225 members

Voting in Sri Lanka's parliamentary poll started on Thursday to elect 225 members to the Parliament with President Anura Kumara Dissanyake seeking a majority. President Dissanyake is seeking a majority to govern the sovereign debt-defaulted nation amid calls for a new political culture without corruption and misappropriation of public funds. This would be the first major test of the popularity of the ruling party, National People's Power, led by President Dissanyake. Samagi Jana Sandanaya led b...

October 10, 2024 10:30 AM

Harmanpreet Kaur reflects on India’s victory over Sri Lanka in Women’s T20 World Cup

Following India's crucial 82-run victory over Sri Lanka in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur shared her thoughts on the team's performance. "A lot of things went according to our plan here. I think all the boxes were ticked today. We batted well, bowled well and especially fielded well. We have to play good cricket first of all. Our bowlers are doing well, and they are a good side, but at the same time, it's good to see our bowlers in a good rhythm; they are giving us brea...

October 4, 2024 4:54 PM

Jaishankar meets Sri Lankan counterpart, assures India’s support for economic rebuilding

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Vijitha Herath, in Colombo on Friday. The two leaders discussed various topics of mutual interest during Jaishankar's first visit to Sri Lanka since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office. The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry shared images of the meeting and confirmed that Minister Herath welcomed Jaishankar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they held discussions on a range of bilateral ...

October 4, 2024 12:32 AM

EAM Jaishankar to Visit Sri Lanka, Meet Newly Elected President Dissanayake

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar is set to embark on an official visit to Sri Lanka on October 4, where he will hold talks with the country's newly elected leadership. The visit reaffirms India's commitment to its "Neighbourhood First" policy and the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision, aimed at strengthening maritime and regional cooperation. "This visit underscores the shared commitment of India and Sri Lanka to further deepen their longstanding partnership f...

September 30, 2024 12:44 PM

From Protests to Power: Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Journey as Sri Lanka’s First Leftist President

It is more than two years since the Aragalaya Protests shook Sri Lanka to the core. Aragalaya means Struggle in the Sinhala language. The imagery of people storming the Presidential Palace and hoisting the Sri Lankan national flag, amid slogans of ‘Gota Go Home’, is fresh in the minds of many, in this island nation of 23 million people. Gota is the nickname of the then President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He fled the country in the wake of the Aragalaya Protests, and, resigned afterwards. Cut t...

September 24, 2024 5:30 PM

Sri Lanka President Dissanayake picks Harini Amarasuriya as PM

Sri Lanka's new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, named Harini Amarasuriya, a college professor and first-time lawmaker, as the new prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation on Tuesday, making her the third woman to be appointed to the post. Dissanayake, 55, a Marxist-leaning firebrand politician, who was elected president in the election held on Saturday, was also scheduled to pick the rest of his cabinet. An academic with a doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Ed...

September 22, 2024 10:10 PM

Sri Lankans elect Marxist-leaning Dissanayake as president to fix economy

Sri Lankans elected Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake as new president on Sunday, putting faith in his pledge to fight corruption and bolster a fragile economic recovery following the South Asian nation's worst financial crisis in decades. Dissanayake, 55, who does not possess political lineage like some of his rivals in the presidential election, led from start to finish during the counting of votes, knocking out incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Prem...

September 20, 2024 4:14 PM

For Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils, election does not offer hope

Scarred by a decades-long civil war and struggling to survive in Sri Lanka's crippled economy, ethnic minority Tamils in the island nation say they have little hope that Saturday's presidential election will improve their lot by much. Tamils form 12% of the country's 22 million population, but have long been electorally sidelined, as most candidates belong to the majority Sinhala population and many Tamils say they have no hope of a better future from those candidates. A 26-year civil war betw...