Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Kenya, Velupillai Kananathan, along with India's diplomat visited the Sri Lankan and the Indian crew members earlier this week. Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that the High Commissioner who met the detainees confirmed that the Sri Lankan crew members were in excellent health.

In a report by South Asia Director, Meenakshi Ganguly, the New York-based human rights watch dog stated that to stabilise the economy, international creditors should agree to restructure Sri Lanka's debt so the country could secure final approval for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan and financing from other global agencies.

"If anyone thinks that they can engage in another struggle without obtaining a licence, stop it. I have instructed the police. If anyone tries to stage a protest to topple the government, I will not allow it. I will impose Emergency law and deploy the military. There is no room for 'Dinh Diems' in this country," Ranil Wickremesinghe said, referring to the dictatorial first President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem.

In Sri Lanka, the opposition parties are asking their government as to how Nasheed was made the representative at the climate change summit for a sovereign country.

Trade unions representing teachers, lawyers and other professional groups; student movements joined by the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and main northern based Tamil political party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by former president Maithripala Sirisena, Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) representing mostly Indian origin Tamils living in central tea plantations, Colombo and other parts of the country; will march demanding state suppression of protests, using draconian law, Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to arrest and detain student movement leaders and urge the government to step down and hold early elections.

The President on Sunday said this while attending an event in Colombo to accept a consignment of medicine donated by the Union Territory of Puducherry and people of India on the request of Ceylon Worker's Congress (CWC), a leading political party representing the Indian origin Tamils in central hills.

"This Ocean as a vital channel of sea communication facilitates a large volume of energy, raw material and food supply between the East and the West, thus it is imperative that we keep it safe. We don't want this to be an area of conflict and war or the playground of world military powers," State Defence Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon said. Bandara represented Sri Lanka at the recently concluded Defence Ministers' Conclave 2022 at India's premier biennial global defence exhibition - DefExpo2022 - at Gandhinagar, in India.

All main opposition parties voted together with the parties aligned with the government, led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in favour to make a total 174 out of 225 MPs at the third reading of the amendment.Only one MP from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) voted against the amendment while most of the others from ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party abstained from voting while the others were absent.

Making a special statement televised on Wednesday night, President Wickremesinghe said that it was not possible to strengthen the economy without increasing the revenue of the country, which will compel him to reluctantly make tough decisions in order to rebuild the nation.

In 2003, as the Prime Minister, Wickremesinghe worked on handing over 99 giant World War II-time tanks at Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm to Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) PLC, an overseas venture of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, on a 35-year lease for an annual payment of $100,000. Sri Lanka is working with India on renewable energy projects to make the eastern port city, Trincomalee, an energy hub.