Commentaries & Articles
Is Swapping Hambantota Port Debt to Equity a Panacea for Sri Lanka’s Debt Crisis?

The Sri Lakan cabinet has approved a proposal under which Sri Lanka will lease 80 percent of the Hambantota Port to Hong Kong-based China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) for 99 years for $1.12 billion.1 This Framework Agreement was signed on....

Tamil National Alliance’s Critique on Budget 2017- Time to Introspect for the Opposition Party

Sri Lanka Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake presented the first reading of the Budget 2017 on November 10. The second reading debate and committee stage debate are scheduled to be held within 26 days in the months of November and December. ....

Sri Lanka-SLFP Hold Crucial 65th Convention

‘Leadership is action, not position’. - Donald McGannon The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) held its politically crucial 65th Convention on September 4, 2016 at Kurunegala, a stronghold of President Sirisena’s political opponent and fo....

Sri Lanka: One Year of National Unity Government An Assessment

It is said that if Presidential Elections held in Sri Lanka in January 2015 was a referendum, the 2015 General Elections that followed was in a way electoral validation the results of that process. Even though the United National Party (UNP) led Unit....

Sri Lanka’s New Constitution - a Politico- Legal Challenge

In accordance with the electoral promises made by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government relating to the abolition of the executive Presidency, electoral reforms; transparency and accountability in governance and finding a political solution to ethni....

Re-asserting ‘Neighbourhood First’- External Affairs Minister’s Sri Lanka Visit

Keeping up with the momentum of 2015 which was a historic year in terms of high level bilateral visits, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj paid a successful visit to Sri Lanka on February 5 and 6, 2016, right at the beginning on New Year. She at....

India-­Sri Lanka Cooperation in Joint Sea Exploration

Introduction: India and Sri Lanka are strategically located at a crossroads within the Indian Ocean; a body of water 68.5 million sq. km in extent and the third largest of the world’s oceans, after the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Their ....

UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka- An Assessment

After a delay of nearly six months, the 268-page long report of the UNHCR on alleged ‘war crimes’ in Sri Lanka was released during the ongoing thirtieth session of the Commission. Broadly, the report deals with human rights violations during the ....

Sri Lankan General Elections 2015 - An Assessment

1. In my earlier article on the Sri Lankan General Elections (‘Curtain Raiser’, VIF 07-2015) various possible out comes of the elections were out lined. As was mentioned therein, the electoral contest was mainly between the two key alliances na....

Sri Lanka: Mandate to continue with change

Will it be fourth time lucky for Ranil Wickramasinghe? Sworn in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on Friday afternoon, Ranil Wickramasinghe is not new to the post. He has been PM in the past--1993-94, 2001-04--and since January this year when he and Pre....

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