COLOMBO: China's new ambassador to Sri Lanka, Wei Huaxiang, said on Wednesday that the 1952 Rubber-Rice Pact was "a valuable historical legacy for China and Sri Lanka" and should guide relations between the two countries as they prepare to mark 70 years of diplomatic ties next year. "China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to continue carrying forward the spirit of independence, self-reliance, solidarity and mutual assistance enshrined in the Rubber-Rice Pact," Mr. Wei said at a reception a

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India has told a Sri Lankan opposition lawmaker that it could act to help Sivarasa Anojan, a Sri Lankan migrant worker sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, once the Sri Lankan government formally approaches Saudi authorities and makes a request on his behalf. Santosh Jha, India’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka, conveyed that position during a meeting with Mano Ganesan, the leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance, according to Mr. Ganesan. Under the position Mr. Jha describe

KANDY, Sri Lanka — A senior Buddhist leader in Sri Lanka on Wednesday welcomed a United States decision to lower tariffs on Sri Lankan goods, telling the new American ambassador that the country had received favorable treatment at a time when Washington has raised tariffs on many of its trading partners. The Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera, the Mahanayake, or chief prelate, of the Malwathu Chapter, one of the most influential Buddhist orders in the country, spoke duri

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday sentenced 15 people to between 200 and 260 years of rigorous imprisonment for their roles in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, more than seven years after suicide attackers struck churches and luxury hotels across the country. The eighth defendant, Abdul Manaf Mohamed Firdous, received the longest term, 260 years of rigorous imprisonment. Four defendants were sentenced to 240 years each: Mohamed Sariboo Adam Lebbe, known as Gafoor Mama; Hayathu

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka- A magistrate in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday gave the police more time to investigate an alleged mass grave on Mandaitivu, an island off the Jaffna Peninsula where dozens of young Tamil men disappeared after being detained by the army in 1990. The case has been before the courts for a year without an excavation. Magistrate Aneeba Rajeev of the Kayts Magistrate’s Court adjourned the case until Nov. 10 after officers from the Jaffna District Crime Prevention Police said they n

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A three-judge panel of the Colombo High Court on Tuesday convicted 15 men over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, in which suicide attackers struck three churches and three luxury hotels, killing more than 260 people and wounding hundreds more. Nine other defendants were acquitted and ordered released. The court adjourned after delivering its verdict and was expected to hand down sentences for the 15 convicted men later on Tuesday, after hearing statements from them. Among t