Three Years On, Rajnath Singh’s Sri Lanka Visit Takes on New Significance

Three Years On, Rajnath Singh’s Sri Lanka Visit Takes on New Significance

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, is preparing to visit Sri Lanka, three years after a planned trip was abruptly deferred, as the two neighbors move to deepen a security partnership that was formalized last year with their first broad agreement on defence cooperation. The itinerary has not been finalized, and New Delhi has not announced dates for the visit. Mr. Singh is expected to hold talks in Colombo, with a possible stop in Trincomalee. Preparations are already


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Government Refuses to Return Kilinochchi Press Club Site, Citing Security
A Google Maps view showing the site of the former Kilinochchi Press Club

Government Refuses to Return Kilinochchi Press Club Site, Citing Security

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry has refused to return a state-owned property in Kilinochchi that housed a press club before the end of the civil war and has been under military control since, telling journalists only that security concerns made its release impossible. The decision was conveyed in an Aug. 12 letter from the Presidential Secretariat to the Kilinochchi Media Forum, nearly three months after the organisation appealed directly to President Anura Kumara Dissanay


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Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavations at the Chemmani mass grave end on Wednesday with 582 sets of human remains identified, among them those of children, and no decision on whether digging will resume before a court date in October. Wednesday is the 56th and final day authorised by the court for the third phase of the excavation, and the 110th day of digging at the site on the outskirts of Jaffna since work began in May last year. Whether a fourth phase goes ahead rests on a hearing set for Oct. 14,


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Will the Rains Fail in Jaffna? Two Forecasts Point in Opposite Directions

Will the Rains Fail in Jaffna? Two Forecasts Point in Opposite Directions

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, one of the most widely followed voices on weather in northern Sri Lanka posted an alert in Tamil that spread quickly across the peninsula. Prof. N. Piratheeparajah, a professor of geography at the University of Jaffna and dean of its Faculty of Arts, wrote that a closely watched Indian Ocean climate index had fallen unexpectedly, that a powerful El Niño was responsible, and that the rains the North depends on in October and November could


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Ranil Warns Sri Lanka Could Face Bankruptcy Again After 2028

Ranil Warns Sri Lanka Could Face Bankruptcy Again After 2028

COLOMBO — Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe warned on Tuesday that Sri Lanka faces a second bankruptcy when heavy debt repayments resume after 2028, and said the government was spending its remaining preparation time on the Constitution and the judiciary instead of on rebuilding foreign-exchange reserves. He spoke at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall at the launch of Yuddha Dekakata Ura Dee, or Shouldering Two Wars, by Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, whom Mr. Wickremesinghe a


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Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka can return inflation to its 5 percent target if global oil prices hold near $80 a barrel, the country's central bank governor said, while warning that a fresh energy shock would strain a recovery that remains vulnerable to forces beyond the island's control. Nandalal Weerasinghe, governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney, where he is leading an investor roadshow intended to draw foreign money into Sri Lanka's stock m


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Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's weather authority says an unusually powerful El Niño is likely to develop by the end of the year, arriving just as reservoirs across the country are running low. The Department of Meteorology now puts the probability of a "very strong" El Niño at about 90 percent, said Ajith Wijemanna, the department's director general. He said there was roughly a 70 percent chance the event would exceed the intensity of any El Niño recorded since 1950. The forecast tracks closely with re


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New E.U. Packaging Rules Now Apply to Sri Lankan Exports

New E.U. Packaging Rules Now Apply to Sri Lankan Exports

COLOMBO — European rules governing packaging began to apply on 12 August, and they cover imports. Sri Lankan exporters of tea, spices, seafood and processed food must now be able to show that the pouches, cartons and wrappers they ship to Europe meet binding requirements on recyclability, recycled content, labelling and chemical safety. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force in February 2025 after years of negotiation in Brussels. It draws no distinction between packagi


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