The Buddhist festival of Vesak is currently being held in Jaffna, organised by Sri Lanka's security forces.

The first day of the festival was declared open on Sunday by the commander of the security forces in Jaffna, Major General Nandana Udawatta.

Sri Lanka will only sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India if it is advantageous to the country, deputy minister of policy planning and economic development Harsha de Silva said at an event in Colombo.

“We have to be convinced that this agreement is beneficial to Sri Lanka. I don’t represent the government of India, I am representing the government of Sri Lanka,” he said at a seminar on CEPA and its implications on the Sri Lankan economy, organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka in Colombo.

“We will win for this country and therefore our government will not enter into any agreement that is not in the best interest of our country.”

"Tamil leaders say Sirisena's government has not fulfilled pledges to withdraw security forces from the north, where soldiers still watch over public sites and counter-terrorism police patrol towns and villages on bicycles. Sirisena has not said whether he will repeal a controversial anti-terrorism law that activists say is being used to detain hundreds of Tamil prisoners without charges.

Sri Lanka's Central Bank said it has missed its fiscal deficit target and reversed its falling trend in 2014, due to a fall in revenue and higher government expenditure, Reuters reported.

The 2014 fiscal deficit hit 6% of GDP, much higher than the 5.2% forecasted, as it reversed its declining trend for the first time since 2009, central bank data showed. It rose from the previous year's 5.9%.