International Affairs

The Sri Lanka High Commission in London hosted a reception in honour of the visiting Sri Lanka Cricket team for the ICC World Cup 2019 on Thursday at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London, in the presence of UK dignitaries, the diplomatic corps and cricketing professionals among the British Sri Lankan community. A warm welcome was extended to the team by the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom Manisha Gunasekera.

Two high ranking UN officials have pointed out that the recent violence in Sri Lanka has highlighted a growing influence of nationalist and extremist views of identity in the Asia region, putting religious minorities at risk. The statement comes in the wake of riots that have resulted in at least one death so far.

UK House of Commons has focused attention on UNHCR refugees in Negombo, who fled to Sri Lanka fleeing religious persecution in their countries, but who now fear for their safety following the terrible Easter Sunday bombings in the island nation.

"The massacres in Sri Lanka and New Zealand demand that we become more united, deepen dialogue and fight against extremism," says the UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said.

In a major move of expanding diplomatic relations in Africa, Sri Lanka government has decided to establish Diplomatic Relations with Gambia last week, Foreign Ministry announced.

ත‍්‍රස්තවාදය මර්ධනය කිරීම සඳහා ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවට ඕනෑම සහයක් ලබා දෙන බව යුරෝපා සංගමය නැවත අවධාරණය කරනවා.

In a joint statement, the delegation of the European Union has expressed concern over the recent incidents of communal violence that have occurred following the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

Sri Lanka and Turkey to pursue shared economic interests and address common challenges such as, terrorism, at regional and multilateral platforms.

A strong and unified leadership remains paramount for Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings to address the security concerns of investors and to revive the island nation’s economy, according to former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O. Blake.

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday vowed to provide all possible assistance to Sri Lanka in its endeavour to strengthen national security by wiping out the scourge of terrorism.

President Maithripala Sirisena flew to Beijing this morning to attend an international conference titled Dialogue of Asian Civilizations to be held on 15 May.

China donated ten police vehicles to Sri Lankan government as part of the security cooperation between the two countries, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank has provided a loan facility of USD 70 million to strengthen the service provided by 134 Local Authorities in the Northern, Eastern, North Central and Uva Provinces under the Local Development Support Project (LDSP).

Sri Lankan government implements a four pronged strategy to improve Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) prospects on the verge of becoming bleak owing to weak unified response against extremist Easter terror which has shattered the investor confidence on the island nation, a veteran BOI official disclosed .

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena is to make an official visit to China next week.