International Affairs

Australia has now revamped its border protection procedures and there is ‘zero chance’ of any illegal migrants gaining entry in the country, visiting Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said yesterday.

President Maithripala Sirisena has defended Sri Lanka’s relationship with China.

Sri Lanka signed agreements with Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to obtain US $ 200 million and US $80 million separately as two concessional loans, it is learnt.

Communal violence targeting Muslims in Sri Lanka has regional and global security implications. The developing situation over the past few days has been extremely worrying with regards to the safety and protection of the Sri Lankan Muslim community, including some foreign Muslim refugees. The lives and livelihoods of Muslims, including their local stores and large business establishments, are threatened by the prevailing conditions with unforeseen, dangerous consequences.

Minister of Science, Technology and Research Sujeewa Senasinghe during his visit to Geneva on 17 May, extended an invitation to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) to participate in the Shilpa Sena exposition to be launched in July 2019 in Colombo. The exposition will provide an excellent platform for CERN and Sri Lanka to showcase the ongoing collaboration, and its potential for advancement of science in Sri Lanka. It would help create awareness and interest among students on the importance of high energy physics for Sri Lanka, stated Minister Senasinghe.

Italy has relaxed its travel advisory with advice to exercise the utmost caution, keeping the attention threshold in all circumstances.

Sri Lanka’s transport sector improvement project will increase the relative efficiency and capacity of the road network and bus system in the Colombo Metropolitan Region and to reduce the cost of transport in order to facilitate the flow of passengers and goods between the central region of the country and ports and markets.

SriLankan Airlines is to resume services to Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi today (1).

Sri Lanka will be seeking seek US assistance in devising new method of technology to identify modern explosives in order to take precautions against future terror attacks of extremists following the Ester terror attack on April 21.

Australian Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton is due to arrive in the country for a 2 day official tour.

French official in charge of tourism to meet with local officials to assess situation after Easter Sunday attacks

A top US official will be in Sri Lanka next week during which he will discuss various issues with the Government and others.

Transparency International ආයතනයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂක වරයෙකුව සිටි නීතිඥ J. C. වැලිඅමුණ මහතා ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ නව කොමසාරිස් වරයා ලෙස පත්කිරීමට නම් කර යවා ඇතැයි වාර්තා වේ.

BEIJING, China: The week-long Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations (CDAC) in Beijing attracted more than 2,000 delegates from 47 Asian and other countries to enhance the ‘exchanges and mutual learning among Asian civilisations and a community with a shared future’, said Professor Patrick Mendis in the CDAC official webpage.

Norwegian Ambassador Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther visited the Southern Province and had talks with officials, including officials at the Hambantota Port.

New Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has said that he will support efforts to strengthen ties with Sri Lanka.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who graced the swearing-in-ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, today had bilateral talks with the Prime Minister.

Four countries have now softened their travel advisories to Sri Lanka urging travelers to be extremely cautious and responsible for their personal safety.