Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga has defended Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for his comments last month, in which he justified the shooting of fishermen from Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to DNA, Ms Kumaratunga said people misunderstood his joke.

“He was joking and people misunderstood him. Media persons kept harassing him with questions. In response, he just said that if an unwanted person came into my house illegally, I had a right to shoot him for trespassing,” she said.

Mr Wickremasinghe had defended the Sri Lankan navy's shooting of fishermen, stating: "If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed...Law allows me to do that.”

After criticism from India and Tamil parties, the prime minister repeated his "joke".

"The Lankan navy has the right to shoot in any part of the country if anyone enters territorial waters, this is nothing new," Mr Wickremasinghe said a week after the initial comments.

Ms Kumaratunga in her interview also said despite the closeness of India and Sri Lanka, there was some fear amongst average Sri Lankans, pointing out that the island was "invaded 52 times by south Indian kings" in ancient times.

Chinese navy ships may now choose to dock in Pakistan's Gwadar port, which has now come under the control of a Chinese firm, as the Sri Lankan government may deny permission for Chinese vessels to dock in Colombo, reports the Press Trust of India.

“The Gwadar port will also guarantee China’s naval ships’ maintenance and supply in the Indian Ocean,” said Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at Shanghai Institute for International Studies in the state-run Global Times. “The move is widely seen as crucial for China, especially as it is unlikely that Sri Lanka will open its ports to Chinese naval ships,” he added.

The reports come after controversy following the docking of Chinese submarines in Colombo last year. China defended the move, but Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the docking caused “serious suspicion”.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has cut policy interest rates by 0.5% for the first time in over a year, in order to boost growth in the country.

The bank said in a statement its monetary board had decided to cut the standing lending facility rate to 7.5% from 8% and the standing deposit facility rate to 6% from 6.5%.

“Current behavior of market interest rates is viewed to be inconsistent with the continued low inflation and investments needed to address concerns on economic growth for the year,” the statement said. The “relaxed monetary policy stance will also be pursued in months to come” until market rates come down enough to boost growth, it further said.

The World Bank says Sri Lanka’s economic growth will decline to 6.9% in 2015, as the government reassesses the investment-led growth model of the previous regime.

The organisation’s South Asia Economic Focus report said the trend was “partially set off by consumption growth thanks to increased public sector wages and higher disposable income”.

The report further stated the country needed to attract increased foreign direct investment to maintain its high growth rate, saying that it attracts less than expected.
"With limited public and private national savings compared to national investment, Sri Lanka needs to attract FDI—in order to maintain its high growth rate," the report said.

SriLankan Airlines announced today it will increase flights to Chennai.

In a statement, the airline said it would add a fourth daily flight to the capital of Tamil Nadu.

According to Lanka Business Online, Saminda Perera, the general manager of worldwide sales said in a statement that “Chennai is a key market for us and one of the fastest growing cities in southern India”.

“While we have always received a strong response from this market, Chennai serves as a key business hub for all multinational corporations. This daily flight will cater to growing business, corporate and leisure demand between Sri Lanka and Chennai."

The Sri Lankan army has extended their general amnesty period for 10 more days, announced the military, allowing those who deserted to return and discharge officially.

Sri Lanka’s military spokesperson Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera told reporters that 12,060 absentees had returned during the amnesty period. On the instruction of both Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and the Defence Ministry Secretary, the period has now been extended until April 25.

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