A government minister said the inclusion of foreign judges in a judicial mechanism to address accountability, as laid out in a resolution by the UN Human Rights Council, would be "unconstitutional".

Skills Development Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said President Maithripala Sirisena had ruled out any foreign participation and insisted that there could not be any doubt over this. The minister accompanied President Sirisena during his European tour last month and is known to be an informal advisor on foreign affairs to the president.

Getting adequate foreign direct investment (FDI) of the right types has eluded the country for many decades. While former communist countries like Vietnam have attracted sizeable amounts of FDI, Sri Lanka continues to get an inadequate flow of FDI.
The statistics of the amount of FDI received are flawed as they contain other capital inflows. Even the exaggerated figures are low and inadequate. The country has reached a turning point when the attraction of much higher amounts of FDI is vital to sustain the growth momentum.

Obtaining much higher amounts of the right types of FDI will determine the pace of economic growth in the next decade. Much higher FDI is essential as the country’s investment resources are limited and technological capacities have to be augmented to capture export markets.

DMK President M Karunanidhi said the Indian government must act on the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen being arrested by the Sri Lankan navy, in a statement on Tuesday.

"When compared to India, Sri Lanka is a small country,” said Mr Karunanidhi.

“Should not the big country India put an end to the atrocities of the Sri Lankan navy. Where there is a will, there is a way.”

The Sri Lankan army ceremoniously declared open a Buddhist shrine in Kilinochchi with a religious ceremony in the Tamil North-East on Monday.

An official military website boasted that the shrine had been built “within a short period of time” following the planting of a branch of a Bodhi tree at the military headquarters on January 2nd 2016.

“In this invaluable religious programme was arranged under the direction of Commander, Security Forces - Kilinochchi and opening ceremony were lined with a religious event like Perahera and Bodhi Pooja Pinkama,” said the website.

Chief Minister of the Northern Province C V Wigneswaran said attempts by the Sri Lankan military to hold on to land in the North-East will “never lead to reconciliation” at a speech in Jaffna on Saturday.

Speaking at a ceremony where 700 acres of land where handed back to Tamil civilians in Jaffna, the chief minister said that “the return of even one acre of land to the owners by those who are not entitled to hold on to it, is to be welcomed” noting that “As soon as the War was over, steps should have been taken for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) which is an integral part of post conflict peace consolidation”.

He added that more land must be released, stating the military cannot continue “point to the Militants to enable them to continue to hold on to any property without handing them over to the legitimate owners”.

“Any attempt by the Military to hold on to such land would create the perception among our people that they are being held forcibly by an Occupational army,” he added. “The Sinhalese would then be continued to be looked upon as aliens who have forcibly taken possession of their traditional lands. This could never lead to reconciliation.”

“Every person displaced because of the war must be allowed to get back to his/her land, trade, profession or means of livelihood,” continued the chief minister. “That is sacrosanct.”

Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said there are no motives to arrest military personnel and assured troops that “national security” would be strengthened.

Speaking to a gathering of troops at a ceremony to launch a new benefit scheme for soldiers, Mr Wijewardene was reported as stating “there are no any motives to arrest military personnel or to lessen the strength of the military owing to external factors (sic),” by the Ministry of Defence’s official website.

The chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs has written to Secretary of State John Kerry, urging the US government to press Sri Lanka to release Tamil political detainees, repeal the PTA and return land held by the military.

Chairman Edward Royce said he supports the increased diplomatic engagement with the Sri Lankan government and pointed out that the Sirisena-administration had made several promises and continues to make "impressive, positive steps".

The Sri Lankan army organised alms giving stalls at the Tamil Hindu Sivarathri festival at several temples in Jaffna.