Sri Lanka

The PTI chief also noted that the country was passing through a critical juncture, The Express Tribune reported. "Pakistan is not in a position to bear any delay in elections. Any compromise on the transparency of elections or political engineering will be tantamount to enmity with the nation," he said.

"Conveyed our commitment to increase investment flows to Sri Lanka to hasten its economic recovery. Look forward to my discussions with the leadership tomorrow morning," tweeted Indian EAM following his meeting with Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Thursday evening.

"'China, China, China!', our US colleague starts chanting this infamous mantra and blaming China as a 'spoiler' to the island's negotiation with the IMF during her recent interview with a UK television program on Sri Lanka's debt issue," the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said on Twitter and also in a statement.

A top-level delegation from the Chinese Embassy in Colombo met the head monk of one of the influential Buddhist chapters in the country and told him that China strongly opposes any foreign country receiving the Tibetan spiritual leader, who is exiled in India.

"I can tell this assembly that the talks are successful," he said as the Indian Ocean island nation is awaiting the International Monetary Fund bailout to relieve worst ever economic crisis the country is going through. "Very soon we will have an answer," Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Responding to a query on China's assistance to Sri Lanka's debt restructuring, Chen Zhou has said: "Several Ministries and financial institutes of China are working closely on this issue for quite a long period. I'm confident that Sri Lanka will have good news very soon."

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed that India was in the best position to act as a bridge between the developing countries which are facing a debt crisis and the G20 in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds the current chairmanship. The Sri Lankan President made the remarks while addressing the Concluding Leaders' session of a two- day Voice of Global South Summit hosted by India virtually.

"Easter Sunday was just a few weeks away when the heads-up about the imminent attack came from India, but there was little alertness or perceptiveness shown by officials to carry out any measures to safeguard any of the churches in the country," a seven-member judge bench while delivering its judgment relating to 12 fundamental rights petitions.

A team comprising 26 official delegates headed by Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of the Department of Trade Negotiations, Thailand is to start negotiations on Monday and Tuesday with Sri Lanka aiming to strike a balance on trade which is not in favour of the crisis-hit South Asian island nation right now.

In a statement, the government information department said the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation has approved the new policy, which will apply first to the popular Yala National Park before it is expanded to other wildlife parks, reports Xinhua news agency.