<p>The Sri Lankan Ministry of Affairs expressed deep concern and called for dialogue between India and Pakistan in a statement released on the Pulwama attack and aftermath.</p> <p>The statement whilst titled a response to India's airstrikes makes no reference of them. The Ministry reinforces states&nbsp;Sri Lanka is&nbsp;committed to “peace and stability in the South Asia region.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Pulwama attack was a suicide bombing conducted by the Pakistan based militant organisation known as Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The attack killed 40 Indian security personnel in the Indian controlled region of Kashmir.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sri Lanka opened a new consulate office in Nicosia, Cyprus today. &nbsp;</p> <p>The event was attended by Cyprus' foreign minister, Nikos Cristodoulides and his Sri Lankan counterpart, Tilak Marapana.&nbsp;</p> <p>“After the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1963, our relations are growing steadily," Christodoulides said.&nbsp;</p> <p>"We share many similar ideas and principles which guide our close cooperation in many international organisations and associations, such as the UN and the Commonwealth," he added.&nbsp;</p>

Tamil families of the disappeared protested in Amparai on Sunday calling on the UN to ensure justice and deny Sri Lankan an extension on its resolution commitments.

Sri Lankan police officers and intelligence personnel threatened displaced families who launched a signature campaign this week in Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu. 

Fishermen in Trincomalee on Monday protested demanding the release of land in Kuchchveli from private companies. 

Meeting with Swiss officials last week, displaced families from Keppapulavu who have been protesting for 730 days for their lands urged them to take action. 

The United Kingdom on Monday urged Sri Lanka to "implement in full" the co-sponsored resolution 30/1 of the UN Human Rights Council, which calls for a hybrid mechanism of justice to examining crimes committed at the end of the armed conflict. 

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu this week wrote to the Indian premier, Narendra Modi, urging him to secure the release of 46 fishermen currently detained in Sri Lanka by the navy. 

Sri Lanka has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extend a $1.5 billion loan by another year and for tight spending targets to be relaxed ahead of key election, Reuters reports.

The IMF programme is crucial for Sri Lanka to continue ensure favourable borrowing terms. However the fund delayed discussions on the sixth tranche of a three-year loan in November following the country’s plunge into a political crisis over the Sri Lankan president’s attempt to replace the prime minister.

A British MP has requested clarification as to whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) intervened in favour of withdrawing an arrest warrant issued on a Sri Lankan brigadier after he was found guilty of public order offences including threatening Tamil protesters in London last year.

Writing to the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt about Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, the former military attaché at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, Siobhain McDonagh MP said: