The Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, visited Colombo from 19 to 21 March 2025, reinforcing the growing military relationship between the United States and Sri Lanka. 

Tamil diaspora groups and international human rights organisations have welcomed the United Kingdom’s decision to impose targeted sanctions on four individuals implicated in grave human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict.

Eid al-Fitr was marked in Tamil Eelam this week, as Muslims in the Tamil homeland joined those around the world to celebrate the festival.

See footage from across the North-East below.

Mannar

A direct flight service between Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna in Sri Lanka officially commenced on 30 March 2025, marking the first such connection between the two cities in nearly five decades.

India and Sri Lanka are set to sign their first-ever defence cooperation agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Colombo, with reports that a deal to link electricity grids with a cable connecting Mannar to Tamil Nadu will also be inked next week. 

The arrest of eleven Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy last week has reignited tensions between New Delhi and Colombo over the decades-long maritime conflict in the Palk Strait, as India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar acknowledged the enduring diplomatic and historical challenges behind the crisis.

Sathiyalingam condemned the Sri Lankan government’s continued refusal to investigate or acknowledge the existence of torture camps and other human rights violations committed in the North-East, as he welcomed the recent set of sanctions by Britain on Sri Lankan war criminals.

Sri Lanka could lose up to US$1.23 billion in export revenue if the European Union (EU) withdraws its preferential trade access under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), according to a new report by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). 

The UK’s move must mark a new chapter, not the end, of international efforts.

Two justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Dilip Nawaz and Priyantha Fernando, announced on 28 March that they would recuse themselves from hearing petitions related to the controversial case of former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and the enforced disappearance of eleven Tamil and Muslim youth between 2008 and 2009.

Sri Lanka’s minister of industry and entrepreneurship development, Sunil Handunneththi has faced criticism after he made a remark at a Regional Development Bank event, where he compared debt to “certain girls,” saying “when the time comes, they forget all that you’ve done for them”.

Shavendra Silva, former head of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, did nothing wrong on the frontlines of the battlefield, claimed Sarath Fonseka, former army commander and himself an accused war criminal.

Army Chief’s recent visit to Jaffna raises concerns over the continued militarisation and state control in the Tamil homeland

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) intends to raise concerns over the continuing erosion of provincial council powers during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Sri Lanka, according to Acting Leader C. V. K. Sivagnanam.