US President Donald Trump has announced 'reciprocal' tariffs on countries worldwide, including a 44% tariff on all goods from Sri Lanka. 

The tariffs were imposed in response to what Trump said were 'Tariffs charged to the US including currency manipulations and Trade Barriers'.

As you prepare for your upcoming visit to Sri Lanka, I write to you not just as an Eelam Tamil, but as a member of a people with deep historical, cultural, and civilisational ties to the land you lead. 

 

A rift has emerged between the Sri Lanka Air Force and Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Bimal Ratnayake, after the minister made claims regarding the cause of a recent military aircraft crash, contradicting official Air Force statements.

Tamil Families of the Disappeared have hailed the United Kingdom’s decision to impose sanctions on senior Sri Lankan military officials accused of war crimes, stating that the move affirms the long-standing demands of Tamil families for international justice and recognition of the genocide committed against Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Three state agencies in Sri Lanka have launched investigations into the Tamil-owned UK-based Lyca Group over its acquisition of a network of 12 media companies on the island, with questions raised over the legality of the transactions and the processes by which licences were granted.

Pro-Sri Lankan government paramilitary leaders Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna Amman, and Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan laso known as Pillayan, have formally reunited after 21 years, signing a memorandum of understanding in Batticaloa on 22 March 2025 to work together under a new political alliance.

The Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, visited Colombo from 19 to 21 March 2025, reinforcing the growing military relationship between the United States and Sri Lanka. 

Tamil diaspora groups and international human rights organisations have welcomed the United Kingdom’s decision to impose targeted sanctions on four individuals implicated in grave human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict.

Eid al-Fitr was marked in Tamil Eelam this week, as Muslims in the Tamil homeland joined those around the world to celebrate the festival.

See footage from across the North-East below.

Mannar

A direct flight service between Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna in Sri Lanka officially commenced on 30 March 2025, marking the first such connection between the two cities in nearly five decades.

India and Sri Lanka are set to sign their first-ever defence cooperation agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Colombo, with reports that a deal to link electricity grids with a cable connecting Mannar to Tamil Nadu will also be inked next week. 

The arrest of eleven Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy last week has reignited tensions between New Delhi and Colombo over the decades-long maritime conflict in the Palk Strait, as India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar acknowledged the enduring diplomatic and historical challenges behind the crisis.

Sathiyalingam condemned the Sri Lankan government’s continued refusal to investigate or acknowledge the existence of torture camps and other human rights violations committed in the North-East, as he welcomed the recent set of sanctions by Britain on Sri Lankan war criminals.