Category: News

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, vowed that China will help Sri Lanka effectively address the challenges of financial debt on Wednesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during a meeting with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the sidelines of the seventh China-South Asian Expo in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

China is always Sri Lanka’s reliable strategic partner and appreciates that Sri Lanka has always been friendly to China and has stood by China on issues related to its core interests, he said.

China also firmly supports Sri Lanka in safeguarding its sovereign independence and national dignity, and is willing to strengthen exchanges of experience in governance as well as cooperation in various fields with Sri Lanka, he said.

Wang vowed that China will help Sri Lanka improve its capacity for independent development, get rid of the “poverty trap” and the “trap of non-development,” accelerate its industrialization process and agricultural modernization.

He expressed belief that Sri Lanka will overcome its temporary difficulties, find a development path in line with its national conditions, and realize revitalization and prosperity.

Noting that Sri Lanka is an important participant and beneficiary of the China-South Asia Expo, he welcomed the Sri Lankan side to continue to make good use of this important platform to further explore the Chinese market.

For his part, Gunawardena thanked China for its firm support for Sri Lanka in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for its timely and effective assistance to Sri Lanka in times of difficulty.

The forward-looking flagship cooperation projects between the two sides such as the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port will bring benefits to the Sri Lankan people and play a key role in regional connectivity and sustainable development, he said.

Sri Lanka will work with China to expand cooperation in economy, trade and investment, agriculture, tourism, energy and innovation to help Sri Lanka achieve food self-sufficiency and accelerate the development of key industries, he added.

(CGTN)

Sri Lanka is seriously moving with a new laws which will prevent any of its future governments from backtracking bilateral and multilateral deals signed without the consent of the relevant parties involved, a government document showed.

The new move comes three years after the government of former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally cancelled several bilateral and multilateral deals including East Container Terminal (ECT) and Light Railway Transit (LRT) projects and resulted in diplomatic hiccups with India, Japan, the U.S. and Singapore, government officials say.

The Cabinet under the current president Ranil Wickremesinghe had discussed and decided that laws should be enacted to prevent deviation from those agreements without the consent of the relevant parties “after entering into bilateral and multilateral agreements that are determined to be essential for national development”.

“The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the President to advise the legal draftsman to prepare a bill based on the preliminary draft prepared accordingly,” the government document on the cabinet decisions said.

Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally cancelled the $500 million ECT project, a tri-party agreement with India, Japan, and Sri Lanka. He also unilaterally revoked a Japanese LRT project without any consent of Tokyo.

Rajapaksa also rejected a free trade agreement (FTA) between Singapore and Sri Lanka after a group of professionals advising him said it will be harmful for the local professionals to find jobs, while he also cancelled a $480 million worth Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant on the advice of a committee appointed by him.

All ECT, LRT, Singapore FTA, and MCC agreements were signed by the government led by then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe before Rajapaksa won the presidency in November 2019 with a landslide.

Sri Lanka faced the repercussions of Rajapaksa’s unilateral decisions including diplomatic hiccups with India and Japan, which still vary to sign bilateral trade/investment agreement with Colombo government, government officials have told EconomyNext.

The new laws will prevent any future government from cancelling bilateral and multilateral deals signed by previous governments without the consent of the other party involved with such agreement.

The ruling SLPP parliamentary group should intervene to make President Ranil Wickremesinghe examine the draft Constitution formulated by the nine-member committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Cabinet-of-Ministers, rebel SLPP List MP Gevindu Cumaratunga said yesterday (15).

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva headed the committee.

Having elected UNP leader Wickremesinghe in July last year as the President to complete the remainder of the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term, the SLPP couldn’t remain silent on their own initiative, Cumaratunga said.

Responding to a query raised by The Island, the leader of civil society group Yuthukama stressed that the SLPP received two mandates at the Nov. 2019 presidential and Aug. 2020 parliamentary polls to introduce a new Constitution.

President Wickremesinghe should under no circumstances implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution or contemplate going beyond that particular amendment, the first time entrant to Parliament said.

Questioning the President’s Office’s request for political parties to submit their recommendations, regarding the 13th Amendment, by 15th August, MP Cumaratunga said that the SLPP owed an explanation regarding its failure to take up the issue at hand with the President.

The committee announced by the then Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC, comprised Gamini Marapana P.C., Manohara de Silva P.C., Sanjeewa Jayawardena P.C., Samantha Ratwatte P.C., Prof. Naazima Kamardeen, Prof. A. Sarveswaran, Prof. Wasantha Seneviratne and Prof. G.H. Peiris.

According to the committee, the draft that had been finalized in March 2022 was handed over to the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in April though it was never subject to public discussion. Both Sinhala and English copies were handed over to the President while the Legal Draftsman was requested to translate it to Tamil.

Of the political parties represented in Parliament, the main Opposition SJB and President Wickremesinghe’s party the UNP haven’t made representations to Romesh de Silva’s Committee. In spite of the Joint Legal Secretaries of the SJB meeting the Chairman of the Committee to work out modalities, the anticipated meeting didn’t take place, sources said.

The Committee received representations from delegations led by Basil Rajapaksa (SLPP), R. Sampathan (TNA), Dinesh Gunawardena (MEP), Udaya Gammanpila (PHU), Wimal Weerawansa (JNP), Tiran Alles (UPP), Vasudeva Nanayakkara (DLF), Anura Kumara Dissanayake (JJB), Raja Collure (Socialist Alliance), Dew Gunasekera (CP), Nimal Siripala de Silva (SLFP), Rushdi Habeeb (ACMC), Douglas Devananda (EPDP), Bandula Chandrasekera (JHU), Mano Ganesan (TPA), V. Radhakrishnan (UPF), Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (TMVP), Senthil Thondaman (CWC), Prof. Tissa Vitharana (LSSP), C.V. Wigneswaran (TMTK) and Asanka Navaratne (SLMP).

About a week before President Rajapaksa fled the country, amidst violent protests, the Committee planned to address the media regarding the new Constitution at the Presidential Secretariat. However, the media briefing was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

The committee has been divided over the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in 1988, in the wake of the Indo-Lanka Accord, signed in the year before.

The majority of Romesh de Silva’s Committee has not endorsed the Provincial Council, introduced in terms of the 13th Amendment, whereas Prof. A. Sarveswaran disagreed with the relevant Chapter (XXII) that he asserted deprived Provincial Council the powers enjoyed under the present Constitution, thereby affected reconciliation efforts.

Those who opposed asserted that the 13th Amendment undermined the unitary character thereby threatened the security of the State.

One member declared his opposition to the Provincial Council system and was not in favour of the provisions incorporated in Chapter XXII. That particular member has explained the grave danger in continuing with the existing system and the intensification of that threat in case of further devolution of power.

But two members supported the proposed Chapter XXII on the basis that

(i) No separate elections are held to constitute Provincial Councils,

(ii) Provincial Councils to consist of representatives of Local Authorities elected at the Local Authority Elections,

(iii) Provincial Councils to exercise executive power subject to the executive powers of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers

(iv) Power of the National State Assembly is not restricted in any manner with regard to any subject on which a Provincial Council has the power to make statutes.

The draft contained a full chapter on Provincial Councils. The Committee has suggested election of members to Provincial Councils and Local Authorities will be held on the same day in one election with each elector having two votes to elect a member for his electoral unit [ward] and a member for the Provincial Council from any one of the candidates in his local government area.

The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka put together an imaginatively curated and impressively executed show to celebrate the 77th.Anniversary of India’s independence on Tuesday.

Dance performances choreographed by Sri Lankan Guru Vasuki Jagadeeswaran and performed by the students of Swami Vivekananda Indian Cultural Centre in Colombo were based on songs associated with India’s freedom struggle. Among those featured were Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymn Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye by Narsi Bhagat, Vande Mataram by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and the theme song of Netaji Subhas Bose’s Indian National Army.

What was innovative in the choreography was the weaving together of Indian and Sri Lankan dance forms – Bharatnatyam and Kathak from India and the Kandyan and the Low Country styles from Sri Lanka. And when finally, a dancer dressed as Mother India and carrying the national tricolour walked on to the stage to the strains’ of Allama Iqbal’s Sare Jahan Se Achcha, the audience spontaneously went into a full-throated “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” (Victory to Mother India).

As per a long and healthy tradition, the Sri Lankan naval band was in attendance entertaining the audience with their tuneful rendering of popular Indian numbers.

The video on India-Sri Lanka relations was in refreshing contrast to the run-of-the-mill presentations that would make the audience yawn. This one captured the entire range of the relationship, not with dry statistics, but with appropriate and snappy video clips from the speeches of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Foreign Minister S.Jaishankar.

Thar the relationship stands for mutual benefit and that India is a reliable friend were projected pithily and effectively.

The rendering of the Indian National Anthem Jana Gana Mana by a 100-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ricky Kej caught the large audience by surprise. The pièce de résistance was majestic and uplifting.

Independence Day was celebrated in different parts of Sri Lanka. The main event in Colombo was held at ‘India House’, the official residence of High Commissioner. High Commissioner Gopal Baglay hoisted India’s National Flag and inspected the Guard of Honour. He also read excerpts of the address by the President of India Droupadi Murmu on the eve of Independence Day.

For the first time, the High Commissioner administered the Panch Pran pledge, by which those present resolved to shed the slavish mentality, uphold the culture of India, commit themselves to nation-building and make India a developed nation by 2047.

The High Commissioner and officers of High Commission of India paid homage at the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) Memorial to honour Indian soldiers of the IPKF who made the supreme sacrifice defending peace and unity of Sri Lanka.

Special events were organized by the Assistant High Commission in Kandy, Consulate General in Jaffna and Consulate General in Hambantota as well on the momentous occasion.

This year’s Independence Day celebration is a culmination of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative, a global campaign to commemorate 75 years of a progressive and self-reliant India.

Since 2022, India has embarked on a journey of 25 years of India’s transformative growth – ‘Amrit Kaal’ – to make India a developed nation by 2047.

Members of the Indian community enthusiastically celebrated this Independence Day by participating in the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, as well as by recounting the stories of growing up in India and paying tributes to the motherland under the ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ campaign.

India is paying close attention to a new Chinese marine research vessel, Shi Yan 6, which is expected to dock at Colombo and Hambantota deep sea ports in the Sea of Sri Lanka in late October 2023.

The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) said the vessels’ arrival has already been planned.

However, the Sri Lanka Navy said that it was not made aware of the vessels’ visit to Sri Lankan shores.

What is the vessel that India is so concerned about?

A new Chinese marine research vessel, Shi Yan 6, is expected to dock at Colombo and Hambantota deep sea ports in the Sea of Sri Lanka in late October 2023.

The Shi Yan 6, a modern scientific research vessel focusing on geophysical exploration and seismic acquisition and processing, was constructed with an investment of $74 million.

The vessel has a length of 90.6 meters, a width of 17.0 meters, a depth of 8.0 meters, and a gross tonnage of 3,990, and is able to accommodate 60 crew members.

Its maximum speed is 16.5 knots, with an endurance of 12,000 nautical miles, and a self-sustaining capacity of 60 days.

Is the Sri Lanka Navy aware of this visit?

Sri Lanka Navy told News 1st that it was not made aware of the arrival of the Shi Yan 6.

Sri Lanka Navy said that if such a vessel is to reach Sri Lankan shores, it should be made aware via the Ministry of Defense.

What process is the Shi Yan 6 following to reach Sri Lanka?

The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) said the vessels’ arrival is part of an agreement reached with the Ruhuna University of Sri Lanka.

NARA officials said that it would link with the vessel in order to obtain water samples for its own research.

The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency said the Shi Yan 6 was scheduled to dock in Sri Lankan ports before the COVID pandemic, and it was delayed multiple times.

NARA officials said that the Shi Yan 6 will engage in research operations ONLY along the Southern Coast.

NARA believes it would not be an issue for India.

What is the stance of the University of Ruhuna?

The Department of Oceanography and Marine Geology at the University of Ruhuna said that it had sought permission for its researchers to board the Shi Yan 6, but there has been no response to the request.

The university said that the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency is mainly involved with the arrival of the Shi Yan 6.

What is the current position of the Shi Yan 6?

The Shi Yan 6 vessel had left China at 6:12 AM on July 6, 2023.

As of Tuesday (15) afternoon, the vessel was positioned in the South China Sea some 345 nautical miles away from Vietnam.

Over the past few days, the vessel had been reducing its speed in the area.

Earlier, China’s high-tech research vessel, ‘Yuan Wang 5’, docked in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port despite Indian concerns, causing a diplomatic issue.

Sri Lankan lawmakers were among those who attended the celebration to welcome the ‘Yuan Wang 5’ to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Media Minister & Cabinet Spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena said that with his approval, the Board of Directors of Sri Lanka Rupavahini had leased the airtime of Channel Eye to Lyca Group for a limited period.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (15) the Minister said that the airtime of Channel Eye was leased for Rs. 25 million per month.

Minister Bandula Gunawardena said cabinet approval was not necessary for it.

The Minister said that in the future, the airtime will be leased following a competitive bidding process.

Sri Lanka’s opposition raised concerns on Monday (14) over an agreement struck by the government with a privately-owned foreign broadcasting organization, to sell the air-time of Channel Eye, a television channel owned by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC).

Speaking to the media on Monday (14), Politburo member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa revealed that the government has sold the air-time of Channel Eye to a company named VIS Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. for a period of 6 months, effective from the 30th of July 2023.

“The organization named VIS Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. has bought air time of Channel Eye to broadcast a channel named SBC TV. From what we know, SBC TV is linked to Lyca Mobile”, he said.

An express train service between Talaimannar and Colombo will begin from September 15, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

Speaking to the devotees at Madhu Church in Mannar, the President said a TNA MP played a significant role in resuming the express train service.

“I would like to thank TNA MP Charles Nirmalanathan for the role he played in getting the express train service started. I would also like to thank others who worked on the project,” he said.

The President also revealed that the government had approved the setting up of a sugar factory in Wanni.

“TNA MP Selvam Adeikalanathan was instrumental in getting this project on track.

“We have to make use of the sunlight, wind and the trees in this area. Therefore we have begun the initial discussions to start a project to set up solar panels on the Poonaryn tank. The North will be a center of power supply by 2040,” he added.

“Madhu is an indigenous religious festival. Therefore, it can be considered as a national event. The government therefore will assist the church to develop this historic place of worship,” he assured.