Necessary to build a consistent relationship with India
Promising to be “frank” and “upfront” to avoid the misunderstandings of the past between New Delhi and Colombo, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says India and other countries in the …
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Human Rights, Reconciliation and Peace
Earlier this month, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president, following his victory in the country’s eighth presidential elections. Gotabaya replaced Maithripala Sirisena, who did not seek reelection, …
A Diplomatic tightrope
Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Mahinda, have returned to power in Sri Lanka. They are likely to pivot back to China to help the economy, but the geopolitical landscape has changed with the rise of Modi’s India. On Thursday, newly elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya …
Victory and Defeat
Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) convincingly won the Lankan Presidential election held on November 16. Gotabaya got 52.25 % of the valid votes while his principal …
Staking hopes on the first-time voters
As campaigning enters the final stretch in Sri Lanka’s Nov. 16 presidential polls, Sajith Premadasa, the leading political moderate in the fray, is staking his hopes for victory on the country’s first-time voters. He aims to garner support from those who came of age after …
Questioning identity politics
It was 1992 when acclaimed Sinhala filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage thought of the story. Sri Lanka’s civil war was raging. The ethnic divide between the majority Sinhalese and northern Tamils was deepening with no end in sight. It made him question the politics of identity that …
Keeping a close watch
India is keeping a close watch on the upcoming presidential elections in Sri Lanka, where pro-China Gotabaya Rajapaksa is pitted against housing minister and deputy leader of the ruling United …
A bitter brew
“Half the blood in our bodies is sucked by these leeches. Can’t someone find some medicine to keep them away?” At first it is hard to locate the voice that …
Leaders should focus their attention on repairing the broken security apparatus
What’s new? Easter Sunday’s bombings produced Sri Lanka’s deadliest single day of terrorist violence and its first experience of Muslim-on-Christian mass violence. Although the attackers were fringe actors, politicians and Sinhalese …
Lanka’s electoral test – An Indian Viewpoint
The space for presidential contenders in Sri Lanka’s election on November 16 is crowding. The hopefuls are from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the breakaway faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)’s Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and United …