Category: News

President Ranil Wickremesinghe was hosted by Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar a short while ago.

The Head of State was hosted by Dr. S Jaishankar for a one-on-one meeting, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

President Wickremesinghe departed on an official two-day visit to India this afternoon (20 July), on an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is his first visit to the neighbouring nation since taking office in 2022.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan received him at the airport this evening.

This is his first visit since assuming the office of President. The visit takes place as both countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

During the visit, President Wickremesinghe is scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of issues of mutual interest.

Ahead of Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to New Delhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to raise two broad issues – the retrieval of Katchatheevu and the aspirations of the Tamil-speaking people in the neighbouring Island.

A copy of the letter was shared with the media.

Meanwhile, DMK MPs have requested the Union Ministry for External Affairs to arrange for a meeting with the Sri Lankan president during his visit to the national capital, sources said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe’s visit to India on July 21, is to be his first visit since he assumed his current responsibilities last year.

In his letter, Mr. Stalin recalled the history behind ceding the Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka in 1974, “without the State government’s consent”, and contended that it has deprived T.N. fishermen of their rights and adversely impacted their livelihoods. He also underlined resolutions adopted in the T.N. Assembly towards the retrieval of Katchatheevu, emphasising the strong position of T.N. in this regard.

“Our fishermen face highly restricted access to traditional fishing grounds, increased harassment by the Sri Lankan Navy, and arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy on trespassing charges. Restoring the right to fish in the traditional fishing grounds of Palk Bay has always been among the top priorities of the Government of Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Stalin said and urged the Union government to initiate diplomatic efforts to revisit the agreement transferring the islet.

Pointing out the demands of the Tamil Nadu government and the DMK for upholding the rights and aspirations of the Tamils in Sri Lanka since 1956, Mr. Stalin contended: “It is imperative to protect the social, political, cultural and economic rights of the Tamils in Lanka so that they can lead dignified lives as equal citizens of Lanka. For this purpose, there must be adequate and meaningful devolution of powers to the provinces, which fulfils the genuine and unresolved aspirations of the Tamils in the island nation.”

Highlighting the “frequent harassment” and apprehending of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, Mr. Stalin recalled the T.N. government’s constant demands that the government of India “decisively use diplomatic channels” to secure the immediate release of apprehended T.N. fishermen and prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

Regular patrolling, establishment of communication channels, and installation of warning systems could significantly reduce the incidents of harassment and apprehension, Mr. Stalin suggested. He also proposed regular meetings and consultations of the Joint Working Group reconstituted in 2016, which he said would help in building trust, facilitate effective communication and ensure smooth fishing operations.

Source – The Hindu

President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized to Tamil Parliamentarians representing the North and East yesterday that he had already put forth a comprehensive proposal to address the problems faced by the people in those regions. He said that it was up to the Tamil Parliamentarians whether to take it forward or not.

Responding to Member of Parliament M. A. Sumanthiran’s statement regarding former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s support for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, the President quipped that he was Ranil Wickremesinghe, not Ranil Rajapaksa.

President Wickremesinghe said that he genuinely wanted to resolve the issues faced by the Tamil people and that he did not have any ulterior motives. He elaborated on various bills and plans concerning the functioning of Provincial Councils, the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation, the Truth-Finding Mechanism, the Office on Missing Persons, and the development of the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The President highlighted the government’s development initiatives in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, including projects focused on renewable energy, water supply, infrastructure development, investment promotion zones, and the tourism industry. He said that the full enforcement of the 13th Amendment could only be achieved if all the leaders of various political parties in Parliament agree to a comprehensive devolution of powers.

The President’s proposal and discussions centered on multiple measures taken to address the challenges faced by the people in the North and East regions. President Ranil Wickremesinghe reiterated his will to uphold justice for the people of the North and East. He said that any further action taken for their benefit can only proceed with the full support of Parliament.

Sri Lanka’s parliament passed a controversial new central bank law which the opposition slammed for lack of accountability in a country where there is growing understanding of the inevitable effects of central bank rate cuts enforced by inflationary open market operations.

The law passed with 66 legislators voting for and 23 voting against in a partially empty house where the debate was disrupted earlier in the day amid protests that there was no quorum.

“The intention of the new law is to correct past mistakes,” State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said.

The opposition called for amendments to make the central bank which has a history of printing money through various liquidity tools for macro-economic policy.

Countries with bad money central banks run on so-called Keynesian policies end up in the arms of the International Monetary Fund again and again, while their currencies depreciate permanently due to conflicting aims and goals.

The passage of the controversial law is a requirement under the 17th IMF program that the flexible exchange rate central bank dragged the country into.

The opposition slammed the law for giving independence to the agency without proper accountability provisions.

“I am not at ease with this bill, because I feel we have come back to the same place again,” opposition legislator Kabir Hashim said.

“The central bank still has along with its primary objectives of price stability, contradictory, output gap targeting, exchange rate determination, policy rate determination, and inflation targeting.

“This is a toxic mix.”

Output gap targeting or active macro-economic policy involves printing money for growth or cutting policy rates using inflationary open market operations.

The IMF itself taught the country to calculate a potential output, dangling a goal for the central bank to print money to reach it.

The practice eventually ended in sovereign default.

Countries with bad money central banks with contradictory money and exchange policies continue to have exchange and trade controls, social unrest and repeated IMF programs.

Hashim said as far back as 1966, former President J R Jayewardene (before he became President) had engaged B R Shenoy to come up with solutions when the country ran into forex problems in 1966.

Sri Lanka had two back to back IMF programs – with the second starting before the first one ended – in that period. Shenoy had advocated a clean float.

In 1980 when Jayewardene liberalized the economy, the central bank was again printing money and Goh Keng Swee had and advised him not to allow the central bank to print money.
He also warned there was no benefit in depreciating the currency.

Singapore does not have a policy rate and operates on currency board principles.

But the advice was not carried out, Hashim said.

The law has a provision which legitimizes printing money to reach a potential output, or active macroeconomic policy while having exchange rate policy and reserve management objectives.

Opposition legislator Harsha de Silva said the law was a step in the right direction, but amendments were needed and hoped the government would accept them.

De Silva warned central banks cannot create growth.

The central bank will continue to print money for provisional advances for the government with an amendment that they would be printed at market rates, raising the question why the money was not raised from the market in the first place instead of being printed to blow the balance of payments apart as in the past.

Hashim told parliament that several East Asian countries showed during the Pandemic that it was possible to raise real money and even cut taxes, while countries that started Covid re-finance funds including Nigeria and Pakistan had ended up in crises, not to mention Sri Lanka.

Accountability in the new law was weak or non-existent, opposition legislators warned.

Related Sri Lanka legislators slam new IMF backed central bank law for lack of accountability

“The central bank can continue to create instability as in the past mis-using certain clauses and powers in the bill,” Hashim warned.

“There are no penalties for central bankers who fail to meet inflation targets set by parliament.”

“They are allowed to make people poor overnight through inflation and go Scott free.

In efforts to full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, to safeguard the full powers of the Provincial Councils (PC) as mentioned under list one in the said Amendment with the exception of Police powers, a constitutional amendment has been mooted along with the inclusion of specified functions in list III in the PCs list subject to agreement among political parties in the Parliament.

This has been discussed during a meeting held yesterday (18) between Tamil Parliamentarians from the North and East and President Ranil Wickremasinghe. The discussion was held in order to discuss the issues relevant to the community in the Northern and Eastern Provinces such as ethnic issues, infrastructure development and the reconciliation process.

According to sources within the Presidential Secretariat, several important matters such as the implementation of the water for the North programme, the development of tourism in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, developing Jaffna as a University town, and the development plan for renewable energy had been taken into discussion.

Apart from that, it was revealed in the discussion that a draft law for the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) has been sent to the Attorney General for constitutionality review and is to be presented to the Parliament shortly. The national action plan on reconciliation drafted by the ONUR is also to be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers soon.

As per the President’s Media Division, the Interim Secretariat for the Truth Seeking Mechanism was established with the Director General and applications are invited for key staff to facilitate stakeholder consultations and draft guidelines.

Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe told Tamil MPs that the Anti-Corruption Law will undergo Committee Stage amendments in the Parliament today (19) and that amendments which were proposed by the Supreme Court will also be considered.

The discussion was held on the eve of President Wickremesinghe planning his first visit to India since he became the President of Sri Lanka, next week.

Since December 2022, Wickremesinghe had opened up a dialogue with the TNA in a bid to settle the long standing Tamil minority demand for political autonomy. Wickremesinghe mooted the idea for the full implementation of the India backed 13th Amendment which came to be opposed by the Buddhist clergy.

The 13th Amendment provides for the devolution of power. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement this which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987. The Tamil people’s side insisted on resolving the immediate issues of concern such as the release of private lands held for military purposes, the release of Tamil political prisoners and conflict reparations.

Although some of the lands came to be released and a few prisoners were also released, the Tamil community’s side remains largely dissatisfied. A few former militant Tamil parties who are not part of the TNA, have also written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to pressure Wickremesinghe into the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.

Meanwhile, a group of religious leaders, educationists, and professionals from Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority from the North and East have written to Modi, urging him to “persuade” President Wickremesinghe to call for PC Elections, without further delay. The civil society members handed over their letter at the Indian Consulate in Jaffna. Sri Lanka’s PCs have been defunct for about five years now, with all nine Provinces under Governors’ rule since the elected Councils’ terms have expired in 2018 and 2019.