An elderly couple from Tamil Eelam were found unconscious on a beach in Tamil Nadu and have been admitted into hospital where they remain in critical condition, as they become the latest asylum seekers to flee Sri Lanka for India.

R Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that although the worldwide Tamil diaspora could contribute economically to alleviate the crisis in Sri Lanka, they would not do so unless the ethnic issue on the island is resolved once and for all.

India’s Union Minister Piyush Goyal told an audience in Tamil Nadu that the country would become a US$30 trillion economy “very soon” as it looks to “capture the world market”.

“In all sectors, we want to become a global industry,” Goyal said at an event in Coimbatore.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted his government’s support for Sri Lanka during its ongoing economic crisis whilst speaking at the G7 meeting.

Commenting on aid provided by India, Modi stated:

“We have dispatched about 35,000 tonnes of wheat as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in the last few months. And even after the heavy earthquake there, India was the first country to deliver relief materials. We are also helping our neighbour Sri Lanka to ensure food security”.

US President Joe Biden announced US$20 million in “additional assistance to strengthen food security in Sri Lanka” which will reportedly feed over 800,000 children, as Colombo desperately looks for international assistance in the midst of its economic crisis.

Tamil National Alliance MP S Sritharan delivered a scathing address to Sri Lanka’s parliament last week, where he denounced the army’s attack on Tamils at a petrol station in Mullaitivu and state-sponsored Buddhist colonization of the North-East in defiance of court orders, and called for justice for both.

Speaking in parliament, the lawmaker described how “fellow citizens belonging to another ethnicity of this country has been savagely attacked by the Sinhala army and Sinhala police”.

Outside the European parliament in Brussels, hundreds of Tamils gathered to demand an end to Sri Lanka’s ongoing military occupation of the Tamil homeland.

Front Line Defenders said they were "deeply concerned" after Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) issued a summons to Sinhala journalist following a complaint made by the Intelligence Division of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).

Sri Lanka has shut down non-essential services until July 10th as the bankrupt nation's fuel supply runs dry amidst its worsening economic crisis. 

Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardane announced that fuel will only be supplied to essential services such as the health, defence, power and export industries, from midnight until July 10th. 

With Sri Lanka’s fuel shortage grinding the island to a halt, Colombo has sent a high level delegation to Russia in the hope of securing more fuel supplies despite the risk of international sanctions.