Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda met with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on 22 March 2023.

This was the latest of a series of meetings High Commissioner Moragoda has had with Minister Sitharaman since November 2021 on Indian economic cooperation and assistance to Sri Lanka in the context of the present economic crisis.

At the outset, High Commissioner Moragoda thanked Minister Sitharaman for the leadership that the government of India took towards the realization of the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement for Sri Lanka. He particularly thanked Minister Sitharaman for her personal involvement in taking up Sri Lanka’s case with bilateral development partners as well as multilateral financial agencies including the IMF in this context.

Minister Sitharaman and High Commissioner Moragoda also discussed the way forward in bilateral economic cooperation. The ways and means to attract Indian investments to Sri Lanka, enhance bilateral trade particularly through Indian Rupee trade expansion and increasing the inflow of Indian tourists to Sri Lanka were explored and discussed. The Minister and the High Commissioner agreed that these measures could form part of Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

High Commissioner Moragoda also presented Minister Sitharaman with a copy of the publication “Geoffrey Bawa; Drawing from the Archives”, which contains the drawings of Sri Lanka’s iconic architect the late Geoffrey Bawa. The publication was presented to her as a memento to mark the opening of the two month- long exhibition “Geoffrey Bawa: It Is Essential To Be There” which was inaugurated by the External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar on 17 March 2023 at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.

High Commission of Sri Lanka

New Delhi

22 March 2023

The High Commissioner to the Commonwealth of Australia, Chitranganee Wagiswara presented her Letters of Credence to the Governor General AC DSC (Retd.) David Hurley on 16 March 2023 at the Government House, Canberra.

The formal ceremony included a guard of honour and a luncheon hosted by the Governor General to the three High Commissioners/Ambassadors who presented credential on that day.

The High Commissioner had a separate audience with the Governor General joined by the First Assistant Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Australia and the Senior Representative of the Government House.

During the discussion the High Commissioner conveyed the greetings of the Sri Lanka President, Ranil Wicremesinghe to the Governor General.  While expressing his good wishes to the Sri Lanka President, he congratulated the High Commissioner on her appointment and conveyed his best wishes for a successful tenure in Australia.

The High Commissioner spoke briefly on the political, economic and social developments in Sri Lanka and the challenges and priorities of the government.  In this context, the High Commissioner thanked the Australian Government for the assistance granted to Sri Lanka in the form of medicine and food to tide over the difficult period last year.

It was noted that Sri Lanka and Australia have maintained close and cordial bilateral ties over the years and both sides were of the view that the friendship and cooperation that  exists between the two counties could achieve greater heights in the years to come.

The High Commissioner was accompanied by Deputy High Commissioner Chamari Rodrigo, Minister U.G.C Abeyrathna, and Counsellor (Defence) Capt. Sanjeewa Kathriarachchi.

High Commission of Sri Lanka

Canberra

20 March 2023

The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions strongly condemns the ongoing attempts to abuse parliamentary privileges to suppress the popular TV program ‘Televakiya’ and to intimidate its editor Lal Hemantha Mawalage, a veteran journalist attached to the Siyata Media Network. The Televakiya is a current affairs program that has become massively popular among TV audiences in recent times for its unafraid stance in criticizing the wrongdoings of the government. In return, the government is now trying to make use of the provisions in the Parliament Powers and Privileges Act to muzzle the media by summoning the journalists before Parliament Privileges Committee to question and institute legal actions against them. This highhanded action amounts to a serious threat against the freedom of expression.

Lal Hemantha Mawalage is a senior journalist who started his career in broadcasting at the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. Since his inception there on Dec 28, 2008 he worked hard to stand against unjust and corruption. Because of his work, he had once come under a brutal attack from Mervyn Silva, a cabinet minister of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. Mawalage had to flee the country to save his life in that instance. Up until now, there is no formal investigation into this to bring the culprits before justice.

We urge President Ranil Wickremesinghe to stop immediately the suppression of the media and journalists and remind him and his government that it is their duty to bring justice to the journalists who had been killed, maimed and became victims of enforced disappearances in the recent years. We, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions, emphasize that freedom of speech is a foundation of a democratic society, is a powerful value to social, economic, and political freedom.

The FMETU is a member organization of the International Federation of Journalists is the world’s most powerful media organization with a membership of more than 600,000 journalists from 146 countries, and 167 media organizations, and we jointly urge the government to stop immediately the attempts to make use of powers to parliament to gag journalists. We also call on people’s representatives in Parliament to oppose the government’s plans to punish the Siyata Televakiya, which stands for the traditional characteristics of Public Service Journalism.

Dharmasiri Lankapeli
General Secretary
Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry participated in the 22^nd Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM) in London on 15 March 2023.  During the visit, he also attended the Commonwealth Day ceremonies celebrating 10 years of signing the Commonwealth Charter by Her Majesty the late Queen symbolizing the shared values and principles of member nations.

Addressing the CFAMM at Commonwealth headquarters, Minister Sabry reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s active engagement and spoke on the themes of climate financing for environmental sustainability; the need to leverage intra commonwealth trade for food & energy security and support the twin transition to a digital and greener future; and building resilient societies through democracy.  He articulated the need for setting up a central body to enable regulations on digitization & digital assets expressing that Commonwealth can play an important role.  He also drew attention to setting up of a climate change university in Sri Lanka, which was first mooted by President Ranil Wickremasinghe.  In his meeting with Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland KC, both sides discussed engaging the Commonwealth to accelerate Sri Lanka’s sustainable development.

Minister Sabry during this visit, attended a series of events to mark the Commonwealth Day on 13 March, including a wreath – laying ceremony in memory of fallen Commonwealth servicemen and women, followed by a special service at Westminster Abbey in celebrating the diversity of cultures which featured a performance by Sri Lankan youth. The Commonwealth Flag for Peace was raised along with members’ flags to recognize 2023, as Commonwealth Year of Peace.  The events concluded with a reception for visiting dignitaries hosted at Buckingham Palace by King Charles III, addressing the Commonwealth as its Head for the first time.  

On the sidelines of the Commonwealth events, Minister Sabry met with Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State for Indo – Pacific at the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office of the UK. Lord Mervyn Davies of Abersoch, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Sri Lanka had a meeting with Foreign Minister Sabry, particularly concentrating on the economy and developing further the trade and investment links between the two countries.    

At both these meetings, Minister Sabry apprised the UK side of the advanced stages in the debt restructuring process and thanked the bilateral creditors and Paris Club members for the support and cooperation extended towards Sri Lanka in accelerating the process. 

In addition, on the margins of CFAMM, Minister Sabry met with James Cleverly, Secretary of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK and with Foreign Ministers of Malaysia, Rwanda and the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.  

Minister Sabry, had an interactive session in the UK Parliament with a cross-section of the British Parliamentarians over ‘Ceylon Tea’ which was organized by the High Commission of Sri Lanka in London together with Sri Lanka Tea Board.  The session included remarks by the Foreign Minister and UK’s Minister of State for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston.  

The visit concluded with a discussion the Foreign Minister had with the British – Sri Lankan community on ways and means of contributing to Sri Lanka’s development process. 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

20 March 2023

Jeevan Thondaman, general secretary of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress and minister, expressed his gratitude to the President for his excellent leadership in bringing the agreement with the IMF to a successful conclusion despite the concerns and criticism of the political opposition.

He made this statement in response to the International Monetary Fund Executive Committee’s acceptance of the provision of loan facilities to Sri Lanka.

He added the following in this regard:

“Within days after entering bankruptcy, our nation had no choice but to turn to the International Monetary Fund for assistance. Economic reforms were also made for this reason.

16 times, Sri Lanka has requested assistance from the International Monetary Fund. The promises, however, were not kept. This made it extremely difficult to this time receive loan approval. International financial organizations also placed Sri Lanka lower on the data list than other countries.

In light of this, the President has successfully negotiated diplomatically with India, China, Japan, the Paris Club, and other nations to secure approval for a loan from the International Monetary Fund.Now Sri Lanka can sustain itself and move forward, Institutions of finance will also loosen their limits on Sri Lanka..

In that regard, I would like to express my gratitude to the President, the IMF chiefs, and the nations, including India, for their cooperation.

G.Krishanthan – 0779166581, 0779775719

Media Secretary

Ministry of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development

COLOMBO, March 22 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka will kick off the next round of talks with creditors in the third week of April, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday, adding that the debt-stricken nation has started to receive funds from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF has released the first tranche of about $330 million, part of a nearly $3 billion bailout approved by it on Monday, Wickremesinghe told parliament.

“This will create opportunities for low-interest credit, restore foreign investors’ confidence and lay the foundation for a strong new economy,” he sa

The IMF bailout is expected to catalyse additional support to the tune of $3.75 billion from the likes of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other lenders. It also clears the way for Sri Lanka to restructure a substantial part of its $84 billion worth total public debt.

Sri Lankan officials will start the next round of talks with bondholders and bilateral creditors in the third week of April, Wickremesinghe said, adding that a fully transparent process will be followed.

Sri Lanka also aims to reduce inflation to a single digit by mid-2023 and later to 4%-6%, Wickremesinghe said. The country’s National Consumer Price Index (LKNCPI=ECI) rose an annual 53.6% in February.

This was the 17th IMF bailout for Sri Lanka and the third since the country’s decades-long civil war ended in 2009.

Economic mismanagement coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic left Sri Lanka severely short of dollars for essential imports at the beginning of last year, tipping the island nation into its worst financial crisis in seven decades.

Unlike previous bailouts, which were mainly used to bolster foreign exchange reserves, the funds from the current programme can also be used for government spending, senior IMF official Masahiro Nozaki said on Tuesday.

Hon. Dilan Perera has been appointed as Chair of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Reconciliation and National Unity (21) at the Committee meeting held in Parliament.

Accordingly, Hon. Mayadunna Chinthaka Amal proposed the name of Hon. Dilan Perera whilst Hon. Gevindu Cumaratunga seconded it.

The Chair addressing the Committee stated that as the Chair of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Reconciliation and National Unity, he is happy that his name was proposed by a Member of the Government where as a member representing the Opposition seconded it with no Member opposing it.

Furthermore, the Chair stated that institutions such as Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Office for National Unity & Reconciliation, Office on Missing Persons, Office for Reparations, Department of Community Based Corrections, Official Language Commission etc.. are scheduled to be brought before the Committee to discuss the way forward.

Members of Parliament Hon. A. L. M. Athaullah, Hon. Kulasingam Dhileeban, Hon. Mayadunna Chinthaka Amal, Hon. Gevindu Cumaratunga, Hon. (Ms.) Rajika Wickramasinghe, Hon. M. A. Sumanthiran and Hon. Hon. Isuru Dodangoda were present at the Committee meeting held.