Sri Lanka’s prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa revealed that he requested a moratorium on all loan repayments to India for three years, as his regime struggles with Sri Lanka’s repayment obligations.

In an interview with The Hindu, Rajapaksa admitted that Sri Lanka’s debt repayments, with servicing totalling $60 billion, were “a worry”.

A notice has been issued to Wasantha Karannagoda, a former Sri Lankan navy chief, to appear in court over the abduction and murder of 11 primarily Tamil youths, the Colombo Gazette reported. 

This is the third notice that has been issued to Karannagoda as he has failed to appear in court on two previous occasions.   

The former Sri Lankan navy chief is the 14th suspect named in the abduction and murder of 11 primarily Tamil youths between 2008 - 2009. 

During a meeting between Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Modi stated the need for the government to “carry forward the process of reconciliation” and to implement the Thirteen Amendment, which relates to devolving power to provincial councils across the island.

In a statement Modi said;

Tamil diaspora groups have called on the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) to 'investigate and report' on the allegations of crimes against Tamil civilians committed by British mercenaries. 

In a joint letter to the UK's Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, the groups highlight that a private British company, Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) was "involved in inflicting death and carnage to Tamils in Sri Lanka, and worse, enjoys impunity in this country."

This month saw the release of an explosive new book that documents how a private British company formed of former Special Air Service (SAS) veterans turned mercenaries, went on to effectively set up one of Sri Lanka’s most notorious military units – one that has been accused of committing egregious mass atrocities.

Authored by Phil Miller, ‘Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away with War Crimes', goes into meticulous detail of how a band of former British soldiers trained and even flew helicopters for the Sri Lankan military whilst massacres were reportedly underway, all under the watchful eye of the UK Foreign Office.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is accused of numerous war crimes, when addressing Chairpersons and Board of Directors of several plantations and financial institutions, said he would work to “recover” the nation without pointing blame at the past.

This statement follows a statement by the President’s Media Division which placed blame for Sri Lanka’s economic downturn squarely on the previous administration.

In attendance at the meeting was also the President Secretary, Dr. P. B. Jayasundara and senior advisor Lalith Weeratunga.  

A Sri Lankan police officer has been found dead in Batticaloa this morning, with initial reports indicating that he was beaten to death.

The man, identified as a 55-year-old Tamil police officer attached to Valaichchenai police station, was found by passers-by in Vavunathivu this morning. It is reported that his body was found dressed in civilian clothing.

The Sri Lankan government, headed by accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa, dropped the Tamil national anthem at Independence Day celebrations in Colombo yesterday, for the first time since 2016. 

The government announced that the 72nd Independence Day celebrations of Sri Lanka would be sung only in Sinhalese a reversal of a policy by the previous regime in 2015, who had included the Tamil version.

Mano Ganesan, former minister of national integration that by "rejecting the anthem in Tamil... in front of local and the international community, the government has justified discrimination".