Reciprocal tariff SL firm against U.S. proposed restrictive trading with China

July 12th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

In the conduct of negotiations for the reduction of reciprocal  tariffs, the U.S. authorities have proposed some restrictive measures  on trading with China, but Sri Lanka has declined to do so in  principle in conformity with its neutral foreign policy, the Daily  Mirror learns.   

Sri Lanka is among the countries that secured one of the  largest reductions of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.  President Trump fired off a letter to his Sri Lankan counterpart, Anura  Kumara Dissanayake, announcing that Sri Lankan products entering the U.S.  market would be charged a 30 per cent tariff, a reduction from 44 per  cent initially announced.  

Sri Lanka currently remains happy since the tariff rate is  lower than most other countries, such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia  and Laos which it competes in trading with the U.S. However, Sri  Lanka is perturbed over the imposition of lower tariffs on countries  such as Vietnam, which is a direct competitor to Sri Lanka in apparel  exports. 

In the letter addressed to President Dissanayake, Trump  highlighted the longstanding trade imbalance between the United States  and Sri Lanka, claiming the relationship has been far from reciprocal”  due to Sri Lanka’s tariffs, non-tariff policies, and trade barriers. He  insisted that the new tariff was necessary to address what he described  as persistent trade deficits, which he labelled a threat to U.S. economic  interests and national security.  

Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Sri Lanka a  tariff of only 30 per cent on any and all Sri Lankan products sent into  the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs,” the letter  stated, adding that any attempts to bypass the tariff through  transshipment would be met with higher penalties.  

Trump further offered an incentive, saying Sri Lanka could  avoid these tariffs if Sri Lankan businesses chose to manufacture  products within the United States, promising expedited approvals for  such ventures.  

He also warned that should Sri Lanka retaliate by raising  its own tariffs, the U.S. would increase the 30 per cent levy by an  equivalent amount.   

However, the Sri Lankan government has chosen a  conciliatory approach, seeking to negotiate further with the U.S.  authorities for further reduction of tariff rates.   

According to a source familiar with negotiations, the U.S.  has proposed some restrictive measures on trading with China, but Sri  Lanka resisted it since it needs fair trading with all its partners.  The source declined to elaborate more on what was discussed.     

The quiet unraveling How IMF reforms are reshaping Sri Lanka’s economic future

July 12th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with the IMF focuses heavily on external debt restructuring to restore debt sustainability. However, external debt restructuring alone is insufficient because a large portion of debt service obligations arise from currency depreciation of external debt thereby inflating domestic debt, including treasury bills and bonds.

Currency depreciation, while theoretically boosting export competitiveness, increases the rupee cost of essential imported inputs, further squeezing margins. Local clients paying in rupees face higher costs, dampening demand for digital services.

Sri Lanka’s economic future is being quietly reshaped beneath the surface of fiscal targets and IMF scorecards. As an 18% VAT on digital services takes effect and currency depreciation alters domestic cost structures, a deeper economic realignment is underway. While headline reforms focus on debt restructuring and public finance, the true fault lines lie in managing domestic and external balance sheets separately. Without addressing this dual challenge, the country risks building an economy that appears balanced on paper but remains vulnerable in substance, undermining innovation, trade competitiveness, and long-term resilience.

Sri Lanka’s engagement with the IMF and the implementation of an 18% VAT on digital services mark a pivotal moment in the country’s economic trajectory. While the VAT aims to broaden the tax base and protect local industries from untaxed imports and dumping, it also raises operational costs for key export sectors, especially digital services.   

This article argues that the core economic challenge lies in managing two distinct balance sheets -domestic and external-and their cash flows separately.   

Properly addressing these twin accounts is essential for sustainable debt restructuring, fiscal stability, and industrial competitiveness. Without this dual approach, reforms risk creating a hollow economy, balanced on paper but fragile in substance.   

A quiet but profound economic shift 

Two years into Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported reform programme, a transformation is unfolding quietly but with lasting implications. Public attention has focused on headline reforms such as fiscal consolidation, interest rate liberalisation, and state-owned enterprise restructuring.   

Yet, beneath these surface changes, deeper shifts in cost structures, industrial competitiveness, and economic autonomy are taking place. Central to this is the introduction of an 18% VAT on digital services effective October 2025, alongside currency depreciation and structural policy shifts.   

While these measures aim to stabilise public finances, they risk throttling Sri Lanka’s vibrant digital economy and export and industrial sectors, raising broader questions about the country’s market share for its industrial future and economic resilience.   

VAT on Digital Services: A Double-Edged Sword 

On paper, extending VAT to digital services aligns Sri Lanka with global tax norms and broadens the government’s revenue base.   

However, in practice, the 18% VAT imposes a structural cost burden on digital firms, many of which rely on US dollar-priced software, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity tools. This tax raises operational costs for startups and MSMEs, causes significant vulnerabilities and eroding their global competitiveness.   

Meanwhile, currency depreciation, while theoretically boosting export competitiveness, increases the rupee cost of essential imported inputs, further squeezing margins. Local clients paying in rupees face higher costs, dampening demand for digital services.   

This combination of VAT and currency effects threatens to weaken one of Sri Lanka’s most promising export sectors, undermining innovation, employment, and foreign exchange earnings.   

VAT’s Positive Role: Protecting Local Industries from Dumping 

Despite these challenges, VAT plays a vital protective role against untaxed imports that can create a dumping” scenario. Dumping of goods and services occurs when foreign goods and services enter the market at artificially low prices, often because they avoid taxes or regulatory costs, thereby undercutting local producers. By imposing VAT on imports, Sri Lanka ensures that foreign goods do not enjoy an unfair price advantage over domestically produced items.   

This levels the playing field for local manufacturers and service providers, helping to preserve jobs and industrial capacity.   

This function of VAT is especially critical given Sri Lanka’s relatively nascent industrial base, which remains vulnerable to global competition without adequate safeguards. However, in a country where technological goods are a prerequisite for value creation, security, innovation and manufacturing designing, printing and packaging this has a negative impact.   

Parallels with Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) 

The VAT’s role in protecting local industries from dumping parallels the challenges posed by Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). FTAs open domestic markets to foreign competition, which can be beneficial for consumers but detrimental to local industries lacking global competitiveness.   

Without protective measures, FTAs risk accelerating deindustrialisation and economic dependency. Similarly, VAT ensures that imports and local products are taxed comparably, preventing market distortions and unfair competition. This safeguard is essential for countries like Sri Lanka that are still building their industrial foundations.   

 The Core Issue: Managing domestic and external balance sheets separately 

A fundamental but often overlooked challenge in Sri Lanka’s economic reforms is the need to keep domestic and external balance sheets and their cash flows separate and managed distinctly.   

Sri Lanka’s public debt is roughly split between domestic and foreign obligations, each with unique characteristics, risks, and implications for fiscal sustainability. Domestic debt accounts for a significant share of interest payments and refinancing needs, while external debt carries foreign exchange risks and influences the country’s balance of payments. 

Why Separate Balance Sheets Matter 

  •  Domestic Balance Sheet: 

Comprises treasury bills, bonds, and domestic currency debt held largely by local banks, the central bank, and pension funds. Its volatility in service affects domestic liquidity, interest rates, and therefore national production output.   

Restructuring domestic debt is complex because it risks destabilising the local financial system if not carefully managed.   

  •  External Balance Sheet: 

Includes foreign currency assets and liabilities such as commercial bonds, bilateral loans, and multilateral debt. Its debt service depends on foreign exchange earnings from goods and services and retained earnings i.e. reserves. Therefore, it is far more significant that we pay attention to external debt restructuring as it is critical for restoring debt sustainability and regaining access to international capital markets.   

  •  Separate Cash Flows:

The cash flows servicing these two debt types differ fundamentally. Domestic debt service affects local currency liquidity and interest rates, while external debt service impacts foreign currency reserves and the balance of payments. Managing these balance sheets as one undifferentiated entity obscures the distinct challenges and policy tools required for each. For example, a successful external debt restructuring that reduces foreign currency obligations does not automatically ease domestic debt pressures, which will continue to strain from incorrect fiscal space that hinders balance sheet capacity and restrains market share and in turn creates monetary instability.   

Sri Lanka’s Experience with Debt Restructuring 

Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with the IMF focuses heavily on external debt restructuring to restore debt sustainability. However, external debt restructuring alone is insufficient because a large portion of debt service obligations arise from currency depreciation of external debt thereby inflating domestic debt, including treasury bills and bonds.   

The government’s total Debt obligation as at end 2024, stands at 103 billion US Dollars (or 115pct of real GDP), of which 38 billion Dollars is external debt, while 66 billion Dollars is domestic. Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) plan, initiated in mid-2023, aimed to restructure key domestic and external debt categories but covers only about 60% of each in total, leaving significant liabilities unaddressed.   

This partial coverage limits the overall impact on fiscal sustainability and gross financing needs. Without a comprehensive approach that addresses both domestic and external debt separately but cohesively, Sri Lanka risks fiscal and monetary instability despite meeting headline IMF targets.

The Cash flow challenge: Core of Sri Lanka’s economic vulnerability 

The twin balance sheets issue is fundamentally about cash flow management. Sri Lanka’s ability to service debt depends not only on the size of external liabilities but on the timing and currency composition of debt service payments relative to government revenues and foreign exchange earnings.   

  • External cash flows are constrained by foreign exchange earnings from exports, remittances, and foreign investment. A shortfall leads to reserve depletion and currency depreciation.   
  • Domestic cash flows depend on tax revenues, monetary policy, and the health of the local financial system. High domestic debt service crowds out productive investment spending by both public and private sectors and tightens liquidity with currency volatility.   

The mismatch and mismanagement of these two cash flows and balance sheets create vulnerabilities that can trigger deeper crises, as seen in Sri Lanka’s recent economic turmoil.   

Broader implications 

The combined effect of ad hoc fiscal measures such as VAT, rupee currency depreciation/volatility, exacerbate external debt servicing pressures thus shifts away from self-sustaining industrial development approach toward a more external debt dependent and fragile economy.   

External revenue from goods and services are a core part of this nuanced approach.   

Sectors that are end users of digital services covered under the new VAT legislation, must be shielded from rising VAT costs, or these companies will now face rising cybersecurity costs and threats, data cost, and digital marketing costs and thus could erode market share due to inability to add value to products and retain competitiveness.   

It is also possible that entrepreneurs may retreat to protected or rent-seeking sectors rather than tradable industries.   

Sluggish industrial profitability due to the IMF pre-conditions, of ad-hoc VAT adjustments and other increases in taxes in general, together with high domestic borrowing costs due to currency depreciation would deter investment in new high technological factories, R&D, and IT sector and also be restrictive to adding new physical infrastructure.   

This unhealthy combination makes the domestic economy vulnerable to external shocks, interest rate cycles and thus would have to revert back to external borrowing to meet the growing tradable account deficit.  

These dynamic risks create an extractive economic model focused on fiscal extraction rather than value creation, production, market share and industrial solution innovation i.e. automation, and data driven decisions.   

Achievements and Hidden Costs 

Sri Lanka has made progress in meeting IMF programme targets: achieving primary budget surpluses, stabilising foreign reserves, and addressing SOE losses. However, these successes mask underlying weaknesses:   

  • GDP growth remains sluggish (well below 2018).   
  • Private sector credit is subdued.   
  • Employment in tradable sectors is weakening.   
  • Inflation moderation has come at the cost of suppressed balance sheet growth and hence sluggish demand and investor confidence. It is therefore evident that the economy is being balanced through contraction and compliance rather than expansion and innovation, risking long-term structural fragility and loss of market share.   

Industrialisation 6.0- Vision Grounded in Reality

Asian economies are already carving markets based on Industrialization 6.0, as this marks a revolutionary leap in global manufacturing, heralding an era where fully autonomous systems powered by advanced AI, robotics, and cyber-physical technologies, manage production of goods and logistics with minimal human involvement.   

This new industrial epoch transcends previous revolutions by shifting from mere automation to complete autonomy, enabling factories to self-optimise, self-adapt, and deliver hyper-personalised products at scale. Sri Lanka cannot leapfrog directly into advanced industrial stages like autonomous manufacturing or AI-powered ports due to infrastructural and capital constraints.   

Instead, it should focus on realistic, incremental adoption of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies that enhance existing sectors such as apparel sector that caters to multiple markets, processed agri-manufacturing, electronics assembly, software development, KPO/BPO, and logistics. In order to get these off the ground it’s essential that fiscal policy signals align with national balance sheet priorities.  

Finally- Balancing reform with resilience 

Sri Lanka’s economic reforms highlight the complexity of balancing fiscal discipline with industrial competitiveness and economic autonomy.   

The 18% VAT on digital services is a litmus test of whether reforms can be tailored to national realities rather than boilerplate prescriptions.   

Critically, managing domestic and external balance sheets separately, with a focus on their distinct cash flows, is essential for sustainable debt restructuring and economic stability. VAT plays a dual role raising revenue and protecting local industries from dumping yet must be balanced with targeted support to avoid undermining growth sectors.   

Without this nuanced approach, Sri Lanka risks building a fiscally balanced but industrially hollow economy, vulnerable to future shocks and lacking the dynamism needed for long-term prosperity.   

The quiet unravelling began not with protests, but with escalation in price lists, contraction in balance sheets, and missed market share opportunities. Sadly the real economic cost will be visible only in hindsight.    

පොරොන්දු වලින් පරිපාලනයක් හැදේද?

July 12th, 2025

ලංකාවෙබ් කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය විසින් රචිතයි

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු: යථාර්ථය හා ඉටුකළ හැකිභාවය පිළිබඳ සම්පූර්ණ සමාලෝචනයක්

ආරම්භය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දේශපාලන පද්ධතිය තුළ මැතිවරණ කාලය එන විට, ජනතාවට විවිධ ආකාරයේ ආකර්ෂණීය පොරොන්දු ලබාදීම සාමාන්‍ය වටපිටාවක් වී තිබේ. මෙවන් පොරොන්දු බහුතරයක් අතිශයින් ජනප්‍රිය වුවත්, ඒවා ප්‍රායෝගික වශයෙන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම පිළිබඳව විශේෂ සැලකිල්ලක් දැක්විය යුතුය. මේ ලිපියේ අරමුණ වන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු සම්බන්ධයෙන් ව්‍යාප්ත සාකච්ඡාවක් පවත්වා ඒවායේ යථාර්ථය, ආර්ථික හා පරිපාලන සීමාවන්, සහ ජනතාවට ඇති බලපෑම් විග්‍රහ කිරීමයි.


1. මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු වල ස්වභාවය

මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාරවලදී විශේෂයෙන් යොදාගන්නා පොරොන්දු අතරින් අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම ඇසෙන කරුණු කිහිපයක් මෙසේ වේ:

  • බදු අඩු කිරීම
  • පොලි බඩු මිල අඩු කිරීම
  • රාජ්‍ය රැකියා සහ වාසි වැඩි කිරීම
  • විශාල පාරිසරික හා යටිතල පහසුකම් ව්‍යාපෘති ආරම්භ කිරීම
  • සාධාරණ සමාජය පිළිබඳ විශ්වාසය ලබාදීම

මෙම පොරොන්දු බහුතරයක් ජනතාවගේ දෛනික ජීවිතයට ආරක්ෂාවක් හා ආරම්භයක් සැලසෙන ආකාරයකි. එමනිසා සෑම පක්‍ෂයකම ප්‍රචාරණ නීතියෙහි මූලික අංගයක් ලෙස ඒවා යොදාගැනේ.


2. ප්‍රායෝගිකව ක්‍රියාත්මක විය හැකිද?

අවුරුදු ගණනාවකින් පවතින ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථික, පරිපාලන, හා ජාත්‍යන්තර ව්‍යාපෘති අභියෝග නිසා මෙම පොරොන්දු බොහෝවිට ඉටු විය නොහැකි වේ. ඒ සඳහා ප්‍රධාන හේතු පහත පරිදිය:

2.1 ආර්ථික සීමාවන්

  • ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විශාල වශයෙන් විදේශ ණය මත රඳා පවතින රටකි.
  • රාජ්‍ය ආදායම GDP වලට සම්බන්ධව 10%–12% අතර පවතින අතර, වියදම් 20% කට අධිකය.
  • රාජ්‍ය වියදම් අඩු කළ නොහැකි තත්ත්වයක් තුළ සහන වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සීමිත වේ.
  • 2022 පසු ආර්ථික අර්බුදය නිසා IMF සමඟ සම්මුති වලට එකඟවූවන්ට ව්‍යාජ වශයෙන් සහන ලබාදිය නොහැක.

2.2 පරිපාලන හා කළමනාකරණ දුර්වලතා

  • ව්‍යාපෘති සැලසුම් lacking feasibility studies
  • රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවල අධික දේශපාලනික බලපෑම්
  • විශේෂඥතා රහිත තීරණ
  • ප්‍රවාහන, සෞඛ්‍ය, හා අධ්‍යාපන ව්‍යාපෘති අධිලාභගතවීමේ අසමත්තා

2.3 දේශපාලන අභිප්‍රේරණ සහ ප්‍රචාරණ උපායමාර්ග

  • බොහෝ පොරොන්දු නියමිතවම අරමුණු කරගන්නා ජනප්‍රිය” දැන්වීම් පමණි.
  • වාස්තු විද්‍යාත්මක විශ්ලේෂණයකින් තොර, සමාජ මාධ්‍ය හා රූපවාහිනී ඔස්සේ ආවරණය කරනු ලබන සෙරිනඩි පොරොන්දු
  • ජයග්‍රහණයෙන් පසු අමතක කරනු ලබන ආකාරයෙන් හැසිරෙයි.

2.4 ජාත්‍යන්තර බලපෑම්

  • IMF, World Bank, ADB වැනි ආයතන වෙතින් ලබාගන්නා අරමුදල්ට අමතර කොන්දේසි සහිත වේ.
  • එවැනි අරමුදල් සඳහා බදු වැඩි කිරීම, වියදම් අඩු කිරීම, සහ රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යාපෘති නවතා දැමීමක් වැනි යෝජනා අනුගමනය කළ යුතු වේ.
  • ඉන් පසු රට තුළ රැකියා, සහන, සහ ව්‍යාපෘති පොරොන්දු තවදුරටත් පවත්වන අයුරු අවංක නොවේ.

3. ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රතිචාරය සහ දේශපාලන සභාවට ඇති පණිවිඩය

පසුගිය වසරවල ආර්ථික අර්බුදය, ණය නොගෙවිය හැකි තත්ත්වය, සහ මිල ඉහළ යාම නිසා ජනතාව තරමක් පරික්ෂාකාරීව මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු බැලීම ආරම්භ කර ඇත. විශේෂයෙන් 2022 පසු ජනතාවගේ විශ්වාසය දේශපාලන පක්ෂවලට පවා අඩුවී ඇති බව දැකිය හැක. අන්තර්ජාලය, සමාජ මාධ්‍ය, සහ නිදහස් මාධ්‍යක් මඟින් ජනතාව විමසුම් සහ විවේචනත්මක වීම වැඩි වී ඇත.


නිගමනය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු, විශේෂයෙන් ම මූලික ආර්ථික සහ ජීවන වාසියන් සම්බන්ධව, ජනතාවට විශාල අපේක්ෂාවන් ලබාදෙනවාට සැලැකිය යුතුය. නමුත් ඒවා බොහෝවිට අවිවරණාත්මක, තොරතුරු සහිත නොවන, සහ ප්‍රායෝගිකව අසාර්ථක විය හැකි යැයි පෙනේ. එමනිසා, අනාගතයේදී මැතිවරණ පක්‍ෂ සහ නායකයින් වෙතින් ලබාදෙන පොරොන්දු පදනම් වූ පරිකල්පනාවන්, ප්‍රායෝගික ක්‍රමවේද, සහ මුදල් මූලාශ්‍ර පිළිබඳව ජනතාවට විවෘතව දැනුම්දිය යුතුය.

ජනතාවගේ භූමිකාව වන්නේ, blind trust නොවී, ව්‍යාජ පොරොන්දු නොහැඳිනෙන්නෙකු වීමය.


ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු පිළිබඳ විශ්ලේෂණාත්මක සම්මන්ත්‍රණ විශේෂාංගය

සාරාංශය (Abstract):

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ ක්‍රියාවලිය තුළ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ විසින් ජනතාවට ලබාදෙන පොරොන්දු සෑම මැතිවරණයකදීම නව වචන වලින් නව ආකාරයකින් දිස්වන නමුත් මූලික අන්තර්ගතය නොවෙනස් වේ. මෙම ලිපියේ අරමුණ වන්නේ එවැනි මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු වල ස්වභාවය, ඒවායේ ආර්ථික හා පරිපාලන සැබෑභාවය, ඉටු කළ හැකි දීමනාව, සහ ජනතාවට ඇති ප්‍රතිඵල සම්බන්ධයෙන් විවේචනාත්මක විශ්ලේෂණයකි.


1. හැදින්වීම (Introduction):

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දේශපාලන වටපිටව මැතිවරණ කාලයන් පුරාවටම ආකර්ෂණීය පොරොන්දු වලින් පිරී ඇත. සෑම පක්ෂයකම ප්‍රචාරණ අවිභාගයකි මෙම පොරොන්දු. නමුත්, මෙවැනි දීප්තිමත් පුරෝකථන, ජනතා අපේක්ෂා ඇතිකරන විට, එම වගකීම් ඉටු නොකිරීම අනාගත ජනවිශ්වාසය වංචනික කරන ප්‍රවාහයක් බවට පත්වී තිබේ.


2. මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු වල ස්වභාවය (Nature of Election Promises):

ජනතා ආකර්ෂණය සඳහා පහත වැනි පොරොන්දු ව්‍යාප්තව දැක්වේ:

  • බදු සහන
  • රාජ්‍ය රැකියා
  • ජාතික ව්‍යාපෘති
  • බඩු මිල අඩු කිරීම
  • ආධාර වැඩි කිරීම

මෙවැනි පොරොන්දු ජනතාවගේ දිවයිනේ ජීවිතය සවිබලගන්වන ලෙස දැක්වෙයි. නමුත් ඒවා ඉතාමත් අධිවිශ්වාසය සහිත, ප්‍රායෝගික නොවන අංගයන්ගෙන් සමන්විතය.


3. පොරොන්දු ක්‍රියාත්මක වීමේ හැකියාව (Feasibility of Implementation):

3.1 ආර්ථික සීමා

  • ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විශාල විදේශ ණය සහිත රටකි
  • IMF යන ආයතන සමඟ ගිවිසුම් වලට යටත්ව ඇත
  • රාජ්‍ය ආදායම් හිඟය විශාලය

3.2 පරිපාලන දුර්වලතා

  • නියමිත සැලසුම් රහිත ව්‍යාපෘති
  • දේශපාලන බලපෑම්
  • වංචා සහ නීතිමය පාලනයේ අඩුකම

3.3 ජාත්‍යන්තර බලපෑම්

  • IMF සහ ADB වැනි ආයතන මඟින් බදු වැඩි කිරීම්, සහන අඩු කිරීම් සහ රාජ්‍ය වියදම් කප්පාදුවක් යෝජනා කරයි.
  • මෙය පොරොන්දු ඉටු කිරීමට බාධා කරයි.

4. ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රතිචාරය (Public Response):

2022 ආර්ථික අර්බුදය පසු ජනතාව බොහෝ දේශපාලන පොරොන්දු පිළිබඳව විවේචනාත්මකව සිතන්නට පටන්ගෙන ඇත. සමාජ මාධ්‍ය, සජීවී සංවාද, සහ විකල්ප මාධ්‍ය මෙයට විශේෂ දායකත්වයක් ලබාදී තිබේ. විශේෂයෙන් තරුණ පරපුර විමසිල්ලෙන් පිරුණු පාර්ශවයකි.


5. සාකච්ඡාව (Discussion):

මෙවන් පොරොන්දු බොහෝවිට “populist” ප්‍රචාරණ උපායමාර්ගයකි. පක්ෂ ව්‍යාජ වශයෙන් ජනතාවට ආරක්ෂාවක් ලබාදෙයි. නමුත්, ප්‍රායෝගිකත්වය පදනම් නොවී ඇතිවීම නිසා ඒවා ක්‍රියාත්මක නොවී ජනවිශ්වාසය බිඳී යාමේ මූලික හේතුව වේ.

විශේෂයෙන් නීත්‍යානුකූල ව්‍යාපෘති සැලසුම්, විගණන සහ පිරිවැය පාලනය, සහ නිවැරදි මුදල් මූලාශ්‍ර හඳුනා ගැනීම මගින් පමණක් සත්‍ය පොරොන්දු දිය හැකිය.


6. නිගමනය (Conclusion):

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු බහුතරයෙන්ම ජනතාවගේ අපේක්ෂාවන් හා ආශාවන් යටතේ නිර්මාණය වන අතර, ඒවා දැඩි වශයෙන් විචල්‍ය ආර්ථික හා පරිපාලන වාතාවරණයක විවිධ සීමා මත රඳා පවතී. එබැවින්, අනාගතයේ දී මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු සදාචාරාත්මකව, විස්තර සහිතව, සහ ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ හැකි ආකාරයකින් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වේ.


7. යෝජනා (Recommendations):

  • සෑම පොරොන්දුවක් සඳහාම ක්‍රියාත්මක සැලැස්මක් සහ අයවැය වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කළ යුතුය
  • පාර්ලිමේන්තු වාර්තා සභාවක් හරහා පොරොන්දු වල ප්‍රගතිය නිරීක්ෂණය කළ යුතුය
  • ජනතාවට දේශපාලන පොරොන්දු පිළිබඳව විශේෂ දැනුවත් කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතුය

Morality in politics is no easy matter

July 12th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror


This is nothing but the contradiction between theory and practice. When the NPP was in the Opposition it was the strongest critic of the government regardless of which party was in power, putting the ruling party always on the defensive. Criticising is always easy

Director CID Shani Abeysekera

So long as the National People’s Power (NPP) was not in power, its leaders claimed moral high ground over other major political parties, especially those that have ruled the country before or those that had clung to them during their administrations.  However, now that the NPP is in the saddle, its moral superiority is apparently dwindling gradually despite  still holding a commanding position over others. 

This is nothing but the contradiction between theory and practice. When the NPP was in the Opposition it was the strongest critic of the government regardless of which party was in power, putting the ruling party always on the defensive. Criticising is always easy. Now the party is facing the challenge of putting its theories into practice, which is not easy. And any ruling party is always being besieged by almost all other parties, NPP being no exception. 

First moral test

The NPP’s first moral test was not administrative or something vital for the economy. It was just about a simple title attached to one of its senior members who was elected to the high post of Speaker of Parliament following its landslide victory at the general election in November. Speaker Asoka Sapumal Ranwala who has long been tagging a title Dr.” to his name failed to prove his doctorate when it was challenged by the opposition parties in December last year. The NPP somewhat cleared its name by persuading him to resign as the speaker despite his promise to produce evidence of his doctorate. Seven months have passed, he is yet to produce it. 

This issue came up at a time when the NPP was morally thrashing all other parties on the grounds that they all ruined the economy by robbing it for the past 76 years since  Independence. In fact, the NPP’s allegation of thieving by  leaders of the other major political parties is not totally baseless. Dozens of complaints lodged with the Commission to Investigate allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the cases in turn filed by it in courts since 2015 are a strong testimony to the allegation. 

Monopoly of truthfulness

The party claimed a monopoly of truthfulness and righteousness, and the Ranwala issue was a huge blow on it, in spite of it having nothing to do with the party’s merit or demerit as a ruling party. 

Meanwhile, former DIG Ravi Seneviratne was appointed the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security a day after NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the President of the country and former Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Shani Abeysekara was appointed Director of Crimes of Sri Lanka police in October last year. Abeysekara was reappointed as CID director last month. 

Although these appointments were viewed by  supporters of the new NPP government as necessities based on the government’s promise to resolve the long unresolved crimes and corruption cases, most of which were said to be politically motivated, some others pointed out they were against another important pledge by the NPP. 

The NPP has been critical of politicisation of the police department by the previous governments and depoliticisation of not only the police but the entire public sector was a major undertaking by the party. Seneviratne and Abeysekara were prominent members of the Retired Police Collective formed by the NPP prior to them being appointed to these high posts in the police department.

Despite nobody having challenged the merit of these officials in their capacities, it was pointed out that their appointments ran counter to the NPP’s pledge to depoliticise the public service. They were challenged not on the grounds of legality or merit of the respective officials, but on the grounds of morality, since bringing in a new political culture was the avowed essence of NPP politics. The same argument is applicable to the appointment of former deputy minister Dr.Harshana Suriapperuma as the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance on June 23.

Then the NPP encountered another major ethical issue which later turned into an embarrassment for the government following the three-day visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in early April. The two governments signed seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) including one on defence cooperation during the Indian leader’s visit. Although the government rubbished all criticisms by its adversaries who recalled the old anti-India theories put forward by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the prime constituent party in the NPP coalition, it failed to divulge the contents of the MoUs. 

The government’s integrity was questioned when different ministers gave different answers to the questions raised by  journalists over the contents of the MoUs. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told that anybody can have access to them through a Right to Information (RTI) application. However, later Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa stated that these agreements could be revealed only with the Indian government’s consent which seems to be the real position. 

How can a party that always insisted on the sovereignty of the people ignore the people’s right to know the contents of agreements with another country? The right to information is a constitutional right in Sri Lanka and the NPP has been highly valuing it throughout. This was another serious blow on the integrity and the moral superiority of the party. 

Government’s handling of RTI Act is another concern expressed not only by the Opposition, but also the some of the journalists and social media activists who ideologically supported the NPP during the recent major elections. The RTI Commission is without a head for the past three months while a request under the RTI Act to reveal the names of the staff of the President’s Media Division has been declined, interestingly citing the sections of the very Act. Legally it may be correct, but morally one cannot expect a President who fought for the right to information to deny people’s right to know. 

However, one should not expect moral absolutism from a party that has taken over a country with a degenerated social system. For instance, the attempt by NPP that has managed to maintain the economic stability since it assumed power to maintain its political dominance at the local government level as well is justifiable. Its flexibility towards other parties after the local government elections is also justifiable so long as it manages to prevent them from engaging in corrupt practices. What really harms the integrity of the NPP is its deafening silence when moral issues  crop up in their activities. 

President says US tariff cut achieved through talks, further reductions sought

July 12th, 2025

Courtesy Adaderana

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that, as a result of recent discussions with the United States, the previously imposed reciprocal tariff rate on Sri Lanka was successfully reduced from 44% to 30%. 

He further emphasised that ongoing dialogue will continue in order to secure additional concessions.

The President stated that the objective of the government is to implement changes that will benefit the country’s economy, businesses, the business community and the well-being of its citizens.

The President made these remarks while participating in a discussion held this morning (12) at the Presidential Secretariat with all stakeholders in the export sector, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD). 

The meeting focused on the progress of discussions related to the new reciprocal tariff policy that the United States is expected to implement, the current situation and the economic challenges Sri Lanka may face in implementing this policy.

At this critical juncture, the discussion also highlighted the importance of identifying new market opportunities and the need for collaboration between the public and private sectors. The diversification of exports was recognised as a key opportunity to navigate the current challenges, the statement added.

The discussion was attended by Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, Western Province Governor Hanif Yusoof, Central Bank Governor, Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Harshana Sooriyapperuma, Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development K.A. K.A.Vimalenthirarajah, Senior Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs, Duminda Hulangamuwa,  Senior Advisor to the President on Digital Economy, Dr. Hans Wijesuriya, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, Mangala Wijesinghe, Chairman of the Board of Investment, Arjuna Herath,  Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce Shanil Fernando, Chairman of the Tea Exporters Association Huzefa Akbarally, CEO of Brandix Group Ashroff Omar along with other representatives from institutions affiliated with the export sector.

–PMD–

Unmasking LGBTQIA+ Ideology: What every Sri Lankan needs to know

July 11th, 2025

Shenali D Waduge

The LGBTQIA+ ideology is not a natural or moral evolution — it is a Western-exported trend, heavily promoted by corporate agendas & hired media, foreign-funded activist networks, and Big Pharma & used by governments as a new geopolitical tool to collapse & weaken an enemy nation’s society. The objective is to confuse society and undermine national identity. By medicalizing childhood gender confusion, they create a new generation of lifelong patients — a new customer base for life. This ideology demands that society rewrite facts, morality, education, and family laws — to suit some newly created personal feelings and sexual preferences. Critics link this to a global depopulation agenda, as seen in the dramatic collapse of marriages, pregnancies, and birth rates across Western countries. The goal now is to export the same trend to Asia and Africa.

Critics also question why this ideology is not being forced on Muslim-majority nations, while the UN system violates its own pro-life, pro-biological family, and child protection ratified mandates to push LGBTQIA+ legalization in countries like Sri Lanka through unratified bullying.

Most dangerously, it targets children through foreign aid, funding, and curriculum changes — to confuse them about their biological sex, normalize deviant behaviors as freedom,” and suppress religion, patriotism, and morality. A new set of NGOs are already at work now that their terrorist project is over.

Unlike terrorism, it cannot be fought with weapons — because it transforms its victims into lifelong believers & eventual sufferers. Their minds are conditioned, their bodies are altered, and many become too ashamed to return to normal life, fearing judgment or not wanting to admit they were misled.

This issue is of deep political significance, as the collapse of an entire society is at stake if this ideological virus is allowed to spread.

It is no coincidence that what was once rightly classified as a mental disorder was suddenly rebranded as normal” — not through scientific discovery, but through relentless lobbying, political pressure, heavily funded media campaigns, hired activists and vested agendas.

Therefore, Sri Lankan parents, teachers, religious leaders & policy-makers must clearly understand what is at stake & join to protect society from the spread of this LGBTQIA ideology virus.

If left unchecked, LGBTQIA+ ideology will:

  • Erase traditional values and morality
  • Confuse children about their identity and biology
  • Undermine religion, family, and social stability
  • Open the door to legalizing paedophilia, incest, and dangerous ideologies
  • Impact a nation’s population, family lineage, and ultimately threaten the future of mankind

Understanding these false claims — and rejecting them with facts and faith — is now a duty.  We must all come forward to protect our country, culture, and future generations.

A. Truth About Gender & Identity

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Gender is a spectrum, not binary.”

Claim: They say a person can be male, female, both, neither, or something else entirely — and that gender is fluid (can change)

  • Scientific:This is false. Human beings are biologically male (XY) or female (XX). Intersex conditions are rare birth disorders — not a third gender.
    • Religious: All faiths teach that humans are created male or female — not a mix.
    • Social: Our constitution, laws, schools, hospitals, sports, and society function on the biological male/female model. Confusing this, damages all systems.

Biology isn’t a mood — it’s a fact.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Trans women are women.”

Claim: A man who feels like a woman and changes his name, appearance, or body should be legally accepted as female.

  • Scientific:A biological male remains male — DNA and body structure do not change, whatever surgery or hormonal medications are taken.
  • Religious:Trying to change one’s sex is an act of rejecting God’s creation and purpose.
    • Social: This threatens women’s & children’s rights in sports, bathrooms, schools, and shelters by letting biological males enter female-only spaces.

You can’t rewrite DNA with feelings.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Let people self-ID their gender legally.”

Claim: A person should be allowed to choose their legal gender — even without medical or physical changes — based only on how they feel.

  • Scientific:Feelings change every second. But biological sex is permanent. Legal identity should be based on facts, not emotions.
  • Religious:Our identity is God-given — not something we make up for ourselves. We are born for a reason – that is to continue mankind.
  • Social:Legal gender self-ID invites fraud, false claims, and even national security risks (e.g., men entering women’s prisons or schools, committing crimes & changing gender).

Feelings change. Biology doesn’t.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Sex is assigned at birth.”

Claim: They argue doctors assign” sex to babies at birth.

  • Scientific:Sex is determined at conception and clearly observable at birth — it is not assigned” like a label. Doctors have no authority to assign sex.
  • Religious:Male and female were created for a purpose — including family and reproduction.
    • Social: Denying sex confuses medical records, education, and future generations. It also undermines society’s moral structure.

Biology defines sex, not belief.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Allow legal ‘third gender’ or ‘X’ categories.”

Claim: There should be a legal category for people who don’t feel fully male or female — like nonbinary” or X.”

  • Scientific:There is no biological third sex. X” is a made-up identity with no medical or scientific foundation.
  • Religious:No religion recognizes a third gender created by God.
  • Social:This causes legal confusion, weakens women’s rights, and opens dangerous loopholes.

Science confirms only two sexes — no third exists.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: All identities are equally valid.”

Claim: All gender and sexual identities (including nonbinary, asexual, genderfluid, pansexual, etc.) should be treated as valid as male and female.

  • Scientific:Identity must be based on biology, not feelings or online trends. Not all claims have scientific merit.
  • Religious:Not every behavior is acceptable just because someone desires it — morality has limits.
    • Social: Giving legal or social recognition to all identities — even unstable or harmful ones — causes chaos and removes the meaning of truth.

No gene defines identity — it’s shaped by life.”

B. LGBTQIA+ Demands on Law & Identity

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: We are born this way.”

Claim: LGBTQIA+ activists say their feelings and identities are natural and unchangeable — like skin color or height.

Scientific: No gay or trans gene has been found. Research shows social, family, and environmental factors often influence these feelings.

Religious: Feelings are not facts. All religions teach that we must control desires, not obey them.

Social: If law and society are forced to follow personal feelings instead of facts, workplaces, schools, and institutions will collapse. Anyone could demand legal rights for any feeling — even harmful ones.

Born male. Born female. No one is born LGBTQIA+.”

Sex is inborn — identities evolve.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Ban conversion therapy.”

Claim: They want to ban all counseling, therapy, or religious help that supports people to leave LGBTQIA+ lifestyles.

Scientific: Many people freely choose therapy to return to normal relationships. Ethical, voluntary talk therapy is not abuse.

Religious: All major religions promote repentance and inner change. Banning such help is a violation of religious freedom.

Social: People must be allowed to walk away from LGBTQIA+ if they want to. Legalizing one view must not silence others.

You choose your identity — I choose not to agree.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Trans men can get pregnant.”

Claim: A woman who calls herself a man but keeps her female body parts can still become pregnant — so they say men can give birth.”

Scientific: Only females can get pregnant. Calling a pregnant woman a man” is false and dangerous.

Religious: A name or costume cannot change divine design. God created two distinct sexes for life and family.

Social: Using terms like birthing people” erases the beauty and dignity of motherhood. It insults mothers and confuses children.

Birth needs biology, not ideology.”

Labels can’t carry life.”

Mothers aren’t made by identity.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Same-sex couples should adopt or use surrogacy.”

Claim: They say love makes a family,” so two men or two women should be allowed to raise children.

Scientific: Decades of child psychology prove that children do best with both a mother and a father.

Religious: Children are not experiments’ for adult sexual fantasies or adult accessories. They are a sacred trust — born from natural family.

Social: Surrogacy often abuses poor women and treats babies like products. There are rising cases of abuse and paedophilia — legalizing this removes protections for children. Studies in India and Ukraine show increased exploitation of low-income women through commercial surrogacy arrangements.

Two dads or two moms can’t replace

 parents who are a mother & a father.”

Kids need more than love – they need balance & structure”

Every child deserves a mother and a father — not substitutes.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Pride is the new civil rights movement.”

Claim: LGBTQIA+ activists compare their struggle to those of black people, disabled persons, and women.

Scientific: Race and disability are unchangeable and not based on behavior. LGBTQIA+ identities are about choices and desires.

Religious: Fighting for sin is not the same as fighting for justice.

Social: This false comparison insults real civil rights struggles and confuses the meaning of equality.

Civil rights don’t cover sexual preference.”

Rights don’t reward behavior”

Rights are for who you are — not what you do.”

C. LGBTQIA+ Influence on Children & Education

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Teach LGBTQIA+ content in schools.”

Claim: LGBTQIA+ activists say that students must be taught about gender identity, same-sex relationships, and sexual rights — starting from primary school (from age 5 onwards)

  • Scientific:Early sexual content confuses children and can harm their mental and emotional development. Studies show overexposure to such topics increases anxiety and identity confusion and encourages them to experiment at unhealthy age.
  • Religious:Children must be guided in innocence and purity — not exposed to adult content. Religious values prioritize protection of young minds.
  • Social:Parents — not activists — must decide what their children learn. No minority group should dictate school curriculums, especially when these confuse or contradict cultural values and why should shifting confused sexual feelings be forced as curriculum on children. Let children be children. They must enjoy their childhood – not be taught adult content

Let kids be kids — not social experiments.”

Teach values, not ideologies.”

Hands off childhood.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Children should explore their sexuality freely.”

Claim: Activists promote the idea that children should discover” their gender and sexuality without restriction, and that adult guidance is oppressive.”

  • Scientific:Children’s brains are still developing. They lack the maturity for complex sexual decisions. Promoting exploration without boundaries risks irreversible psychological & even physical harm.
  • Religious:Children are entrusted to parents to be nurtured in virtue, discipline, and faith — not handed over to sexual experimentation.
  • Social:This opens the door to grooming, sexualization of minors, and the erosion of child protection laws. Moreover, it takes away the child’s right to be a child & for parents to decide how their children should be raised

Childhood is for growing, not grooming.”

Guide children — don’t confuse them.”

Kids need clarity, not chaos.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Allow minors access to gender-affirming care.”

Claim: Children who identify as trans should be allowed to take puberty blockers, hormones, or even undergo surgery — without parental consent.

  • Scientific:These treatments cause permanent damage to the body and brain. Puberty blockers affect bone growth, fertility, and brain development. Many regret such decisions later in life.
  • Religious:Mutilating the body is a violation of divine trust. Faith teaches healing — not harming — the body.
  • Social:Children cannot give informed consent. When even many adults are confused about their sex, how can a child be expected to decide?

children can’t consent for irreversible change”

children can’t be asked to make adult decisions”

stop treating kids like adults”

D. LGBTQIA+ Attacks on Religion and Morality

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Religious opposition is hate speech.”

Claim: They argue that religious teachings against LGBTQIA+ behavior are hateful and should be censored.

  • Scientific:Disagreeing with a behavior or identity is not hate. Free inquiry, open debate, and the right to disagree are essential for science, democracy, and human dignity.
  • Religious:All major faiths speak of truth with love — disapproval of sin is not hatred but moral responsibility.
  • Social:Silencing religion violates freedom of conscience and expression. It creates an intolerant society where only one ideology is allowed.

Morality isn’t hate — it’s society’s backbone.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Pride Parades and drag shows are harmless celebrations.”

Claim: Activists insist that these events are joyful expressions of diversity and should be open to the public, even children.

  • Scientific:These events often include hypersexualized performances, nudity, and adult themes — inappropriate for children and the public.
  • Religious:Public displays of lust, vanity, and disorder are condemned in all major religions. Such events do not promote virtue or discipline. It normalizes immorality.
  • Social:Such shows often violate public decency laws, expose children to adult content, and normalize indecency in public life.

Strip shows aren’t culture — they’re corruption.”

Protect childhood — ban public indecency.”

Adult acts don’t belong near children — full stop.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Polyamory, kink, and sex work are identities too.

BDSM stands for

BBondage – physical restraint (e.g., tying someone up)

DDiscipline – power exchange where one person controls or punishes the other

SSadism – gaining pleasure from inflicting pain

MMasochism – gaining pleasure from receiving pain

BDSM often involves role-playingdominance and submission, and pain-based stimulation — all of which are psychologically and physically risky, especially when promoted as normal” or introduced to children & youth.

While activists try to frame it as just another identity” or preference,” it has serious moral, spiritual, and mental health concerns, and should never be normalized in education, law, or by media (which we see being done even in Sri Lanka of late)

Scientific: These are behaviors — not identities — and often signal deeper psychological dysfunction.
• Religious: Lust, domination, and the use of others for pleasure violate all moral and spiritual teachings.
• Social: Promoting these as lifestyles” harms women, normalizes abuse, and destroys family values.

Note: Sri Lanka’s media (TV, print, and digital) must be monitored and held accountable if they promote such ideologies.

Trauma-based living isn’t a human right.”

Promoting identity is different from pushing ideology.

Let families choose values.”

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Kink, fetish, and BDSM are healthy expressions of identity.”

Claim: Activists push that such practices are just part of adult freedom and deserve public recognition and legal protection.

  • Scientific:Many of these behaviors originate from psychological trauma or abuse. They are at high risk of physical and mental self-harm.
  • Religious:These behaviors glorify lust, domination, and pain — completely opposite to spiritual growth and virtue.
  • Social:Mainstreaming such practices desensitizes society, especially children, to harmful sexual behaviors. It corrupts public morality, erodes family dignity, and misleads children and youth away from righteous living.

Pain isn’t love. Stop glamorizing abuse.”

Wounds aren’t freedom — they’re cries for help.”

Don’t call trauma a trend — it’s a warning sign.”

E. LGBTQIA+ Targeting of Language, Media & Institutions

  1. LGBTQIA+ Claim: Use our chosen pronouns — it’s respectful.”

Claim: Activists insist people must use preferred pronouns like they/them,” ze/zir,” or change pronouns based on how someone feels — even legally.

Scientific: Language must reflect reality. Pronouns are tied to biological sex. Forcing people to lie contradicts biology and logic. Even languages with strong gender rules — like French — are being pressured to adopt unnatural pronoun use, despite resistance from national language councils.

Religious: Truth in speech is a virtue. Using false words to affirm delusion or sin is dishonest — not compassionate.

Social: Forcing new language violates free speech and conscience. In schools and workplaces, it creates fear and censorship.

Forced speech isn’t respect — it’s control.”

Biology can’t be bullied by pronouns.”

Truth doesn’t change with mood swings.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Language must be inclusive.”

Claim: Replace terms like mother,” father,” breastfeeding,” boy/girl” with terms like birthing parent,” chestfeeding,” or they/them” to avoid offending” nonbinary people.

Scientific: Changing biological terms erases facts. Only females give birth and breastfeed — not people.”

Religious: Language carries spiritual and familial value. Words like mother” or father” are sacred — not interchangeable.

Social: Redefining language confuses children, erases roles, and undermines the family unit — which is the foundation of every stable society.

Changing words won’t change the truth.”

Erase the words, erase the family.”

If moms become ‘birthing people,’ what’s next?”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Media must represent queer characters.”

Claim: TV, cartoons, books, and ads must include LGBTQIA+ characters to promote visibility.”

Scientific: Normalizing what is biologically abnormal, especially for children, influences identity formation and behavior prematurely.

Religious: Immorality disguised as entertainment is still immorality. Media should build virtue — not erode it.

Social: This isn’t representation — it’s forced cultural change. It marginalizes traditional families and values. Reducing parents to Mom 1 & 2” or Dad 1 & 2” erases natural family roles and distorts parenthood into bureaucratic labels.

Kids need role models, not confusion.”

Normalize virtue — not vanity.”

Forced diversity is ideological invasion.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: If you don’t support us, you’re phobic.”

Claim: They label any disagreement with LGBTQIA+ ideology as homophobic,” transphobic,” or hateful.”

Scientific: Disagreement is not fear or hate. Debate and dissent are essential in science and society.

Religious: Moral teachings are not hate. Every religion allows people to speak truth and oppose wrongdoing without hatred.

Social: These labels are tools to silence opposition. It shuts down open dialogue and punishes even polite disagreement.

Disagreement is not hate.”

Labeling dissent as ‘phobic’ kills dialogue.”

Truth isn’t fear — it’s resistance to lies.”

F. The Global Agenda & Legal Threats to Sri Lanka

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: International law requires decriminalization.”

Claim: Activists and UN bodies pressure countries like Sri Lanka to repeal laws on unnatural sexual acts, claiming it violates human rights.”

Scientific: There is no scientific basis for redefining morality or legality based on shifting sexual behavior. Legal systems must protect public health and social order — not endorse subjective feelings as rights.

Religious: Religious freedom allows countries to uphold moral laws. No external group has the right to dismantle religious or moral codes rooted in centuries of tradition.

Social: International pressure undermines national sovereignty. If laws are dictated by foreign agendas, Sri Lanka will lose its ability to protect its culture, children, and societal values.

We don’t take moral orders from the UN.”

Laws must reflect our people — not pressure.”

Global trends can’t erase local truths.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Repealing Penal Code Sections 365/365A is necessary for equality.”

Claim: Foreign-funded NGOs and some legal bodies push to repeal these sections, arguing they criminalize consensual adult relationships.”

Scientific: These laws were updated in 1995 and 2006 specifically to protect children from abuse — including paedophilia and grooming. Repealing them creates legal gaps easily exploited by predators.

Religious: All faiths prohibit unnatural sexual acts. The law reflects collective moral conscience — not private lifestyles.

Social: Removing these laws sends a dangerous signal that anything is acceptable. It weakens child protection, opens doors to sexual exploitation, and erodes public morality.

Repeal 365A, and you repeal child safety.”

No equality if children are unsafe.”

Protecting kids must come before adult demands.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: International treaties require Sri Lanka to protect LGBTQIA+ rights.”

Claim: UN bodies cite international treaties like ICCPR, CEDAW, and CRC to argue that Sri Lanka is obligated to adopt LGBTQIA+ legal protections.

Scientific: None of these treaties were written with LGBTQIA+ ideology in mind. They were originally drafted to protect life, family, children, and biological rights. Their new interpretations violate the original ratified mandate. Unratified resolutions remain non-binding.

Religious: Misusing these treaties violates their original spirit, which aligns with religious and cultural preservation.

Social: Sri Lanka has no legal obligation to adopt Western ideologies incompatible with its Constitution or public will. Treaty interpretation cannot override a nation’s values, Constitution, or parental rights.

Signing a Treaty doesn’t mean surrendering our sovereignty.”

Our laws serve our people — not global agendas.”

Treaties can’t rewrite tradition.”

  • LGBTQIA+ Claim: Foreign aid must promote inclusion.”

Claim: Foreign governments and UN agencies increasingly tie aid to LGBTQIA+ compliance — threatening to withhold support unless countries change their laws.

Scientific: Aid should address humanitarian needs — food, health, education — not be weaponized for social engineering.

Religious: Using aid to force countries to abandon moral law is ideological colonization.

Social: This is blackmail. True development cannot come by sacrificing national values. Sri Lanka must reject conditional aid that demands moral surrender.

Bribes wrapped in aid betray the nation.”

We don’t trade values for dollars.”

Real aid respects — it doesn’t dictate.”

Sri Lanka is under ideological attack — not with bombs, but with policies, funding, and false rights.

The global LGBTQIA+ agenda uses law, media, aid, and treaties to infiltrate and weaken nations. It is the duty of every Sri Lankan — lawmakers, clergy, parents, and teachers — to resist this colonization of the mind.

G. The Path Forward: Protecting Sri Lanka’s Future

  • Sri Lanka must conform to global human rights norms.”

Claim: Some argue that resisting LGBTQIA+ ideology isolates Sri Lanka internationally and harms its reputation.

Scientific: True human rights protect life, family, and children — not experimental ideologies that contradict biology and social stability.

Religious: Sri Lanka’s rich spiritual heritage calls for upholding moral truths, not adopting foreign values that undermine faith and family.

Social: Sovereignty means choosing laws and values that reflect the will of the people, not bowing to external pressures or trends.

 Human rights must respect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.”

Global norms can’t override our national truth.”

Respect Sri Lanka’s culture — not foreign agendas.”

Rights rooted in tradition, not imposed from abroad.”

  • Education should be neutral and inclusive.”

Claim: Education systems must teach acceptance and diversity, including LGBTQIA+ perspectives.

Scientific: Education must be age-appropriate and fact-based, preserving childhood innocence and mental health. Indoctrinating ideology confuses children and disrupts learning.

Religious: Moral education rooted in faith and tradition strengthens character and community cohesion.

Social: Parents have the primary right to guide their children’s moral and social development — not activists or foreign donors.

Education must teach Truth not Trends.”

Inclusive yes, but never ideology-driven.”

Teach facts, not agendas.”

  • Dialogue and compromise are possible.”

Claim: Peaceful coexistence with LGBTQIA+ ideology can be achieved through compromise.

Scientific: Normalizing harmful or false ideas undercuts societal health and stability. Falsehood cannot be compromised.

Religious: Truth is non-negotiable in faith. Upholding moral law protects all.

Social: Society must protect vulnerable groups like children and women first — not compromise foundational values for ideological convenience.

Harmful behavior & Falsehoods have no place for compromise.”

Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads.

Protecting our nation requires courage, wisdom, and unity. Every citizen, leader, and institution must actively defend the truth about biology, morality, and family.

Together, we must:

  • Safeguard childhood innocence and education
  • Uphold laws protecting families and children
  • Preserve religious freedom and cultural identity
  • Reject foreign ideologies that threaten our social fabric

The future of Sri Lanka — our families, communities, and nation — depends on informed, steadfast action today.

Shenali D Waduge

Combat Trauma from Ancient Times to Modern Day

July 11th, 2025

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge and Lt Colonel Ivan Welch, PhD, US Army

Combat trauma has affected soldiers throughout history, from ancient times to the modern day. The psychophysical effects of combat have been recorded since the early days of human civilization. From the time of Homer’s ancient story of the battle between the Trojans and the Greeks (1200 BC), military personnel have been confronted by the trauma of war. According to the historians, Saul, the king of Israel (11th century BC), had abnormal behavior with an inclination towards violence. On one occasion, he went into a brutal rage and tried to kill his son Jonathan.

Alexander the Great (356 BC–323 BC), who had conquered a large portion of the known world at that era, suffered from combat stress. When his forces came near the Indus River, Alexander’s forces were exhausted and refused to march further. Alexander the Great’s army experienced battle fatigue, which significantly impacted their willingness to fight.

The Emperor Ashoka (304 BC-232 BC) of India experienced a depressive reaction soon after the Kalinga War after witnessing deaths and destruction. He felt disheartened by his military actions and completely renounced violence and embraced Buddhism. His psychological shift away from violence denotes a drastic personality change following war trauma. The Emperor Ashoka was able to achieve post-traumatic growth.

The Roman Empire, which lasted from 27 BC to 1453, was filled with battle stress. A countless number of soldiers and civilians experienced a great deal of combat-related stress during this time period. Roman legionaries witnessed death, injury, and the brutality of battle as a result of close-quarters combat. Once archeologists discovered an ancient bunker from the Britannic Islands, which was used by the Roman soldiers. They found frescos that portrayed the isolation, nostalgia, uncertainty, and fear experienced by the soldiers.

The Crusades (1095-1291) were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land, significantly impacting religious and political dynamics.  Many crusaders would have returned to Europe suffering with the mental consequences of war trauma, or the physical consequences of disability from weapon injuries.

The Great Oriental Conqueror Tamerlane (Timur)(1336-1405) was highly affected by the war stress and demonstrated aggressive and sadistic behavior. He was fond of building pyramids of human skulls. Once he made a giant pyramid after a war that contained some 40,000 skulls. Tamerlane had a link to trauma-induced aggression.

The prophet Nostradamus named Napoleon Bonaparte as an antichrist. Napoleon’s forces invaded many parts of Europe and North Africa. His Moscow invasion in 1812 caused heavy damage to the French forces. The French Army had to face the cold Russian winter, famine, and General Kutuzov’s cannon fire. After his disastrous retreat, Napoleon was sent into exile. He escaped from the island of Elba and engaged in the so-called Hundred Days of War. Finally, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Duke of Wellington—the Leopard of England. Napoleon’s decision-making seemed to decline during later campaigns. This could be due to ongoing combat stresses that he experienced. According to the historical accounts, Napoleon was increasingly irritable and prone to bouts of melancholy. Napoleon went into post-combat depression and died on the island of St. Helena in 1821 while in exile.

During the US Civil War, Dr. Mendez Da Costa evaluated 300 soldiers referred to him for a syndrome that he called irritable heart. This syndrome was characterized by shortness of breath, palpitations, burning chest pain, fatigability, headache, diarrhea, dizziness, and disturbed sleep. This condition was later called Da Costa Syndrome. (A syndrome is a group of symptoms that occur together and that are characteristic of a disease or condition.) The civil war participants suffered from psychological wounds, often manifesting as anxiety, depression, and somatization.

At the beginning of World War one the Effort Syndrome was frequently attributed to cardiac hypertrophy caused by heavy marching and packs compressing the chest. The Effort syndrome was considered to be a psychoneurosis and not a medical disease. In 1938, Soley and Shock claimed that hyperventilation was responsible for the symptoms of effort syndrome.

Until World War I (1914-1918), psychological consequences of war trauma were considered merely manifestations of poor discipline and cowardice, and often the victims were severely punished. Some military records of WW1 indicate that a considerable number of shell-shocked soldiers were given the FP-1, or Field Punishment Number One. FP-1 involved the offender being attached to a fixed object for up to two hours a day and for a period of up to three months, often put in a place within range of enemy shellfire. Dr. Charles Myer suspected the psychological factors associated with shell shock.

The Nobel Prize Laureate Ernest Hemingway served in the Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War that erupted in 1936. Hemingway saw the horrendous war trauma in Spain, and that inspired him to write his famous novel A Farewell to Arms. Anyhow, in later years Ernest Hemingway experienced depression and took his own life. According to the military psychiatrist Dr. William Pike, half of the Spanish Civil War veterans suffered from severe combat-related stress. At one point, Dr. William Pike treated 28 shell-shocked men who were hiding in a wine cellar.

During World War II (1939-1945), battle stress was classified as operational fatigue or war neurosis. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was evident during World War II, and most of the symptoms had a somatic nature. It has been estimated that 10% of US servicemen developed combat exhaustion in WW2. The military authorities were not very empathetic towards war-stressed sufferers, and on one occasion, General George S. Patton slapped and verbally abused Pvt. Paul G. Bennet and Pvt. Charles H. Kuhl, who experienced battle fatigue.

The term Section Eight was used to identify the victims of psychological effects of war trauma in the Korean War, which continued from 1950 to 1953. Psychiatric evacuations were considerably reduced during the Korean War due to the praiseworthy work of Dr. Albert Glass. However, in a recent study done by Dr. Malcolm Sim and colleagues of the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, it was found that anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression were present in Korean War veterans 50 years after the war.

In 1965, the United States sent troops to South Vietnam to help fight communist guerrillas. US troops fought in hostile territory, facing sudden ambushes and booby-trap mines. US forces faced defeat and were forced to withdraw from Vietnam in 1975. During the Vietnam War, 2.8 million US servicemen served in Southeast Asia, mainly in Vietnam, and almost one million were exposed to active combat. By the end of the war, over 50,000 Vietnam veterans were diagnosed with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD has been found in 15% of 500,000 men who were in Vietnam. It is said 20,000 veterans committed suicide in the war’s aftermath.

On December 25, 1979, the Soviet Union sent forces to Afghanistan. By 1986, about 118,000 Soviet troops and 50,000 Afghan government troops were facing perhaps 130,000 Mujahideen guerrillas. Following the conflict, over one million Afghans had died, and the Soviet army lost 14,427 combatants. When Mikhail Gorbachev became the Soviet leader in 1985, he was keen to get Soviet troops out of Afghanistan. The Soviet withdrawal was completed in February 1989. Although the Soviet health authorities did not comment on psychological casualties of the Afghan War, there were significant numbers of PTSD victims in the Red Army who fought in Afghanistan. Since PTSD was not recognized in the Soviet Union at that era, the Afghan veterans did not receive proper psychological and psychiatric treatment. Many veterans are still haunted by the war’s intrusions.

The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), also known as the First Gulf War, was conducted by the Coalition Forces to free Kuwait from Iraqi forces led by Saddam Hussein. The number of coalition wounded in combat seems to have been 776, including 458 Americans. Iraq sustained between 20,000 and 35,000 fatalities. The Gulf War Syndrome was evident during the Persian Gulf War, and many returning coalition soldiers reported illnesses such as headaches, memory loss, fatigue, sleep disorders, intestinal ailments, and unusual loss of hearing. Nearly 150,000 veterans have shown symptoms of Gulf War illness.

According to Toomey R and Kang HK, Karlinsky (“Mental health of US Gulf War veterans 10 years after the war,” British Journal of Psychiatry 2007) found that deployment in the Gulf War was associated with increased levels of mental disorders, psychological symptoms, and a lower quality of life—beginning during the war and persisting at a lower rate 10 years later. Around 700,000 US military personnel were deployed to the Middle East during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. These veterans reported greater psychological symptoms immediately after the war than veterans who were not sent to the Gulf. 10 years later, these cases of depression and non-PTSD anxiety disorders remained significantly more prevalent among deployed compared with non-deployed veterans. PTSD was over 3 times more prevalent among deployed veterans.

The War in Afghanistan was a prolonged armed conflict that began on October 7, 2001 and ended with United States troop withdrawal in 2021. The Second Gulf War, also known as the Iraq War, can be considered an ongoing military campaign that began on March 20, 2003, with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom. These are massive military campaigns in the present day. These conflicts have produced a large number of psychological casualties. The researchers say nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan—300,000 in all—report symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to a 2005 VA study of 168,528 Iraq veterans, 20 percent were diagnosed with psychological disorders, including 1,641 with PTSD.

The armed conflict in Sri Lankan which lasted for nearly three decades, had generated a large number of combatants, members of the LTTE, and civilians affected by war trauma, especially PTSD. Studies have shown significant rates of PTSD among individuals exposed to the conflict, including combatants and civilians. Most of these war stressors were not diagnosed sufficiently, and they are not receiving adequate treatment. Therefore, war stress can affect Sri Lankan society for a long time.

Chechen Wars (1994-1996) and the Second Chechen War (1999-2009) resulted in widespread psychological trauma for both civilians and combatants, with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues. A study in Chechnya found that 86% of the population experienced physical or emotional “distress” due to the conflict. 

The Ukrainian War began in February 2014. It has generated increased rates of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the war victims. The war has become a collective trauma for the Ukrainians. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 68% of Ukrainians report a decline in their health, with mental health concerns.

Trauma is a universal human experience, and it is cumulative and reverberates across generations. The experience of combat trauma is a constant across time. Understanding combat trauma from ancient times to the present day provides valuable insights about warfare and its impact on individuals and their society and how societies interpreted and responded to the psychological effects of combat. It provides a deeper understanding of the psychological and emotional toll of combat. This insight would help culturally appropriate and effective interventions to deal with war trauma.

About the Authors

 Dr. Ruwan M. Jayatunge, M.D., Ph.D., is a medical doctor and a clinical psychologist, as well as a member of the American Psychological Association (APA). He is a member of the International Scientific Committee of the Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED) panel, representing Canada. He has authored a number of books on PTSD and war trauma and is a guest lecturer at Sri Lankan and North American universities.

Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Welch, PhD, US Army, Retired LTC Welch served twenty-seven years in the US Army as an enlisted soldier and as an officer. As an Infantry Officer he served in international peacekeeping, ground combat, and high level staff positions. He taught in military training and education settings as well as a civilian university. He was a researcher and writer for the US Army Foreign Military Studies Office. He received his PhD in Geography from the University of Kansa

Sri Lanka’s IMF scorecard: meeting or missing the initial forecasts?

July 11th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror


Sri Lanka experienced its worst economic crisis in 2022. This crisis stemmed from poor economic management, including excessive fiscal deficits, and the loss of access to international financial markets.

As a part of its recovery efforts, the government sought a USD 3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The programme was mainly included several structural reforms and quantitative targets, mainly focused on improving fiscal management and governance.

This analysis assesses Sri Lanka’s performance against the IMF’s original projections under the programme. Although the IMF later revised its forecasts to reflect actual results, this review uses the initial figures to see how Sri Lanka progressed against the pathway that was expected at the inception of the programme.

Revenue revved up but deficit in deficit

The IMF had projected government revenue to rise to 11% of GDP in 2023 and 13.3% in 2024, averaging 12.15%. Actual performance exceeded expectations, with average revenue reaching 12.4%. This was primarily due to a stronger-than-anticipated increase in 2024, where revenue reached 13.7% of GDP compared to 11% in 2023  (See our previous analysis to find out how the revenue increased).

The IMF also expected the overall budget deficit to narrow to 8% of GDP in 2023 and 6.4% in 2024, averaging 7.2%. However, the actual average deficit was higher, at 7.6% of GDP, with the deficit declining only modestly to 8.3% in 2023 and 6.8% in 2024. While revenue aligned with projections, the higher-than-expected deficit resulted from increased government expenditure, particularly in interest payments. Non-interest expenditure, as reflected in the primary balance (discussed below), did better than IMF projections.

Higher primary balance – lower public debt

Public debt as a share of GDP declined from 111.7% in 2023 to 103.8% at the end of 2024. This outperformed the IMF’s projection of 108.5% for the same period. One contributor to this improvement was a stronger-than-expected primary balance, which rose to 0.6% of GDP in 2023 and to 2.2% in 2024, averaging 0.05% for both years. This is higher compared to the IMF’s forecasted average of 1.4%. A positive primary balance indicates that government revenue exceeded non-interest expenditure, reducing the need for additional borrowing.

Interest cost heightens – rupee strengthens

Interest costs declined to 80% of revenue in 2023 and to 66% in 2024, averaging 72.8%. However, this remains significantly higher than the IMF’s anticipated average of 60.3%. Interest payments were the main driver of the increased deficit despite revenue gains.

The largest deviation from the expected path is in the value of the currency. The Sri Lankan rupee appreciated hugely as opposed to the IMF’s expectations of significant depreciation. The 2024 year-end exchange rate stood at LKR 292.58 per USD, against the IMF projection of LKR 441.20. The strengthening of the rupee reduced the foreign currency-denominated debt burden, and is the key contributing factor to the lower debt-to-GDP ratio.

Growth flies high – inflation flies low

Sri Lanka’s GDP growth was negative 2.3% in 2023 and positive 5% in 2024. Cumulative* real GDP growth from 2022 to 2024 increased by 2.6%, significantly above the IMF’s projection of 1.5%.

Inflation also fell sharply, cumulatively the prices of the headline Colombo CPI index from 2022 to 2024 increased by only 2.2%. However, the IMF’s projections expected cumulative inflation to be 22.9%.

Current account climbs: reserves hold steady

Sri Lanka’s external current account balance turned positive in both years, recording surpluses of 1.7% and 1.2% of GDP in 2023 and 2024, respectively — averaging 1.5%. This contrasts with the IMF’s expectation of a continued deficit, indicating a notable improvement in Sri Lanka’s external position. (The current account reflects trade and financial flows, including exports, imports, income, and transfers.)

Gross official reserves** increased to USD 4,752 million by the end of 2024, closely matching the IMF target of USD 4,692 million. This reserve total excludes the USD 1.4 billion People’s Bank of China swap, which the CBSL erroneously adds to the official reserve figure it publishes.

Therefore, apart from the budget deficit and interest costs (as a share of revenue), the majority of key fiscal indicators remain consistent with — or have exceeded — the IMF’s initial projections set in March 2023.

Notes

* Cumulative growth for indicators like GDP or inflation over a period (e.g., 2022 to 2024) is measured by the total percentage change from the initial value at the end of 2022 to the final value in 2024. This method captures compounding effects and more accurately reflects overall change.

**The gross official figure cited here differs from the one that is officially reported by the CBSL. The discrepancy arises due to CBSL’s inclusion of a PBoC swap in the reserve figure that does not meet the criteria of a gross reserve.(See Factcheck Explainer)

The IMF’s projections are based on the initial report that approved the Sri Lankan government’s request for an EFF in March 2023. These projections were later amended by the IMF based on actual economic outcomes.

Sources

International Monetary Fund ‘Sri Lanka: Request for an Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility—Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Sri Lanka’ 20 March 2023 at https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2023/03/20/Sri-Lanka-Request-for-an-Extended-Arrangement-Under-the-Extended-Fund-Facility-Press-531191  [last accessed 18 June 2025].

Research by: Sadini Galhena and Anushan Kapilan

Sri Lanka Group expands investment in Fiji

July 11th, 2025

Courtesy Fiji Times

The delegation from Aitken Spence PLC visiting their proposed pilot site yesterday. Picture: INVESTMENT FIJI
The delegation from Aitken Spence PLC visiting their proposed pilot site yesterday. Picture: INVESTMENT FIJI

EXPANSION plans in Fiji by Sri Lankan conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC through its subsidiary company Elpitiya Plantations has finally made progress since initially exploring opportunities in the country last year.

Aitken Spence PLC, a prominent Sri Lankan conglomerate specialising in the agricultural sector, was exploring initial plans to introduce cutting-edge agricultural technologies and exploring renewable energy solutions to enhance Fiji’s agricultural productivity and sustainability.

During their visit in 2024, the Aitken Spence delegation held discussions with local brands like Ranadi Plantations, Nature’s Way Cooperative, Jack’s Mango Farm and Bula Coffee.

The visits were facilitated by Government investment arm Investment Fiji and was aimed at identifying and developing viable agricultural opportunities in Fiji.

Aitken Spence board director Dr Rohan Fernando said their approach was comprehensive in encompassing everything from innovative farming practices to advanced processing techniques, with a strategic focus on both local consumption and export markets.

Fiji presents a wealth of opportunities for commercial farming, particularly in sectors such as papaya, pineapples, dragon fruits, berries, coffee, tea, mangoes, cinnamon, lime and passion fruit,” Dr Fernando said.

Earlier this week, Investment Fiji took to social media to announce that the team from Aitken Spence is back in the country and now in the process of finalising land arrangements for their proposed pilot site.

The proposed site is located at Nawaicoba in Nadi where Investment Fiji and the visiting delegation held productive discussions with the landowner on Tuesday.

Investment Fiji further announced that the visiting delegation was now back in Fiji to officially register their company and explore strategic partnerships with local stakeholders.

This morning, the delegation met with the Investment Fiji chief executive officer Kamal Chetty to further discuss project progress which aims to bring advanced agricultural practices, employment opportunities, and export potential in the Agricultural sector,” Investment Fiji stated.

Investment Fiji plays acritical role in facilitating the visit, offering insights into Fiji’s investment climate, connecting Aitken Spence with local partners and providing guidance on regulatory and economic aspects.

The growing investment opportunities in Fiji can potentially reduce Fiji’s reliance on imported agricultural products and open new export markets.

Sri Lanka apparel sector braces for tariff fallout

July 11th, 2025

Courtesy fibre2fashion

Insights

  • On Wednesday, President Trump announced a 30 per cent tariff on Sri Lankan goods.
  • Apparel exporters fear ‘very negative impact’; terms move a ‘massive challenge’ for country’s RMG sector.
  • Lankan government reportedly indicated to continue talks with the US, claimed some industry players.
  • While industry leaders warn of job losses and shifting orders to rivals, talks continue in hopes of tariff reductions.

US President Donald Trump has expanded his aggressive trade policy by adding Sri Lanka to a growing list of nations subject to sweeping new tariffs.

In a letter, Trump recently announced that beginning August 1, 2025, all goods imported into the United States from Sri Lanka will be subjected to a 30 per cent tariff. This measure is part of a broader initiative that also includes Algeria, Libya, and Iraq among seven countries targeted in the latest round of trade penalties.

From August 1, 2025, we will impose a tariff of 30 per cent on all Sri Lankan products entering the United States, separate from all existing sectoral tariffs,” the letter reportedly underlined.

Trump also reportedly made it clear that any retaliatory action from the Sri Lankan government—such as raising tariffs on US goods—would be met with proportional responses. The letter stated that if Sri Lanka responded in kind, the 30 per cent tariff would be increased accordingly.

The move marks a significant escalation in Trump’s ongoing campaign to rebalance America’s trade relationships, and while the 30 per cent rate is slightly lower than the 44 per cent initially proposed in April, its implications for Sri Lanka’s garment industry and its overall economy could be substantial.

Even though from the proposed tariff of 44 per cent to the current 30 per cent there is climbdown, it is still very significant and would have very negative impact on the industry as countries like India and Vietnam have lower tariffs than Sri Lanka,” opined Yohan Lawrence, secretary general of Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAFSL), speaking to Fibre2Fashion.

United States is Sri Lanka’s largest single export destination, accounting for 23 per cent of its total merchandise exports in 2024, reports maintained adding, among the most affected sectors will likely be the apparel industry, which represents more than 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s exports to the US.

Other important exports include tea, rubber, and seafood—all industries that could face substantial disruption if the tariffs take effect as planned.

For Sri Lankan exporters, the tariffs threaten to undercut competitiveness in a critical market, potentially leading to job losses and reduced foreign exchange earnings at a time when the country is still recovering from a deep economic crisis.

Meanwhile, John De Silva, managing director of Jia Moda Private Limited told Fibre2FashionThe new tariff imposed by US on Sri Lanka is going to pose a massive challenge for the apparel industry. This could mean a shift of orders to competing countries like Vietnam.”

However, De Silva noted that Vietnam’s limited capacity presents a different challenge—a surge in US orders could lead to saturation, creating a new hurdle for brands and importers in the US to navigate.

As per Lawrence, the total tariff amount would be even higher when the average MFN tariff of 12–14 per cent that Sri Lanka has been paying is added to the current 30 per cent reciprocal tariff.

In his letter, Trump framed the decision as a response to what he described as long-standing inequities in trade between the United States and Sri Lanka. He argued that the trade relationship had been far from reciprocal”, citing the South Asian nation’s tariff structures, non-tariff barriers, and policies that he claimed disadvantage American exporters and businesses.

The US President concluded the letter on a cautiously optimistic note, expressing hope for a more balanced and mutually beneficial partnership in the future even as he reportedly left the door open to revising the tariff upward or downward” depending on how relations between the two countries evolve in coming months.

It is still not the end of the road as the government has indicated it will continue talks with the US in the coming days and there is still hope that the margin of tariff might come down,” expressed Lawrence even as he pointed out that the impact of the new tariff will vary depending on the market mix each Sri Lankan supplier serves, affecting both business operations and employment levels.  

Echoing Lawrence’s sentiment, De Silva remarked, I also believe that once the US achieves its broader objectives, the tariff rates will eventually come down, as higher tariffs will ultimately have a negative impact on American consumers.”

Purchase orders from US buyers nonetheless are coming in, noted De Silva, who made a curious observation indicating that some importers already seem to be planning to adjust their selling prices to account for the impact of the tariff.

On the flip side, De Silva explained that higher product prices will mean consumers pay more, which could drive up inflation in the US. In addition, importers and retailers may face shrinking business, potentially resulting in store closures and reduced operations in the years ahead.”

He, however, concluded on an optimistic note, stressing that although much like the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump’s tariffs will have global repercussions, but eventually, everyone will find a way to adapt and navigate through them”.

Household debt rising in Sri Lanka

July 10th, 2025

by Arundathie Abeysingh Courtesy PIME Asia News

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is warning that debt is the main factor of vulnerability in the population. The causes include the 2022 economic crisis, rising inflation, unemployment, and unsustainable interest rates. Some people are forced to sell their furniture to pay higher prices for food and medicine, analysts report.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has sounded the alarm, observing that Sri Lanka’s household debt crisis has intensified since 2023, this according to UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka Azusa Kubota.

Citing alarming data from the 2023 Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MPI), Kubota notes that debt is the main factor of vulnerability with at least 33.4 per cent of the population, already burdened by unsustainable debt for essential goods, including food and medicine.

To increase efforts, the UNDP is calling for broader collaboration, announcing the second phase of its private sector giving facility, focused on assisting women-led businesses and improving financial education nationwide.

The first phase successfully activated over US$ 6 million to assist communities at the height of the economic crisis.

Although local moneylenders seemingly offer high-interest loans during emergencies in a friendly manner, borrowers often end up paying interest for the rest of their lives.

Since 2022, when the island nation experienced its worst economic crisis, inflation has increased the prices of raw materials, energy, and transportation, negatively impacting sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. Thus, to maintain profit margins, companies opted to cut their workforce.

Currently, over 50 per cent of households are burdened by debt, struggling to meet repayments amid the rising cost of living. As a result, a high percentage of them rely on loan sharks and microfinance institutions, which charge high interest rates.

People end up trapped in cycles of debt, like what people faced in the northern and eastern parts of the country about 10 years ago, which saw many people take their own lives.

When import duties and indirect taxes are imposed, and subsidies are removed, people have to pay higher prices for basic necessities, including medicine, food, and fuel,” economic analysts Sashikala Dharmawardana and Amanda Hewapthirana told AsiaNews.

Since Sri Lanka relies on imports even for basics such as rice, dhal, sugar, milk, and now salt, the amount of money needed to support a family has increased significantly.

“Household incomes are inadequate to keep pace with the rising cost of living,” they add. “People are forced to take out loans or sell jewelry and household items, including furniture, because even their small savings have gone. Due to the current crisis, most people are unable to repay their loans, and new loans are being contracted to repay old ones.”

Although daily wages have increased from 1,000 to 3,000 rupees over the past three years, job opportunities have declined, making monthly income insufficient for basic needs.

“Because state and commercial banks only grant loans to people with assets or guarantors after assessing the borrower’s creditworthiness, small farmers, fishermen, daily wage earners, and low-income workers are unable to access such loans,” the analysts add.

As a result, low-income workers and daily wage earners have turned to loans to cover living expenses.

This crisis has depleted household savings and emergency funds, while microfinance companies exploit people by offering daily, weekly, and monthly loans at high interest rates, targeting vulnerable people because credit is their only means of survival,” they report.

Many people directly affected by the debt crisis are unable to voice their concerns or fight against exploitation, as their time and work are devoted to daily survival.

The government has failed to provide adequate social assistance to low-income and daily wage earners. The scope of cash transfers and food aid is limited and does not reach vulnerable people.

Although the Aswesuma programme, a new welfare programme to alleviate poverty and improve social equity, offers between 3,000 and 15,000 rupees per month depending on family size and vulnerability, delays in handing out the aid and red tape have prevented timely assistance.

Sri Lanka’s apparel industry counts on cutting US tariff to compete with rivals

July 10th, 2025

By Uditha Jayasinghe Courtesy uk.finance.yahoo.com

COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka’s garments sector is pinning its hopes on further discussions with the U.S. government after Donald Trump’s administration’s 30% tariff on the nation has placed it at a disadvantage to some of its biggest rivals.

The United States has accounted for about 40% of Sri Lanka’s apparel exports. Last year, they were worth about $1.9 billion, industry data shows.

But in a letter on Wednesday, Trump notified Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the 30% tariff from August 1, a rate well above the 20% levy faced by one of its major competitors Vietnam.

The U.S. tariff on neighbouring Bangladesh was, however, set at 35%, while Cambodian exports face a 36% levy. Tariffs on India, also a big U.S. supplier, have yet to be made public.

“If this is the end number, Sri Lanka is in trouble because our competitors, such as Vietnam, have received lower tariffs,” Yohan Lawrence, of the Joint Apparel Associations Forum, or JAAF, representing the largest apparel companies, told Reuters.

“But we are hopeful we can continue discussions.”

The government on Thursday said it was continuing talks with Washington.

“Our intention is to get the best rate for Sri Lanka so it’s a balancing act we are taking forward,” Duminda Hulangamuwa, senior presidential adviser, told reporters.

India is potentially the biggest threat to Sri Lanka’s clothing industry.

“India as the regional giant can be the game changer. If theirs (tariff) is similar to Vietnam, the impact would be considerable,” said Raynal Wickremeratne of Softlogic Stockbrokers.

Sri Lanka’s apparel exports to the United States in the first five months of 2025 were $747 million. That compared with apparel exports for the whole of last year of $1.9 billion to the U.S. and $4.8 billion worldwide, JAAF data shows. The exports are the country’s third largest source of foreign currency.

As the U.S. directs some of its most punishing tariffs at China, which faces a 55% levy, U.S. clothing imports from China fell to their lowest monthly level in 22 years in May.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Nanadalal Weerasinghe said on Thursday it was too early to measure the wider economic impact of the tariff announcement on Sri Lanka’s economy.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund said Sri Lanka’s economic outlook remains positive, despite significant risks to macroeconomic and social stability from global trade policy uncertainties.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Writing by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Barbara Lewis)

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදය සිංහල භාෂා පාඨයට අනුව ගැලපෙන ලෙස ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පරිවර්තන පාඨය නිවැරදිකර ගැනීමට ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමා වෙත කරන ඉල්ලීමට නීතිඥවරුන් ඇතුළු පුරවැසියන් අත්සන් කිරීම ආරම්භ කරයි.

July 10th, 2025

අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col) නීතීඥ, සමායෝජකවෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදය සිංහල භාෂා පාඨයට ගැලපෙන ලෙස නිවැරදිව එහි ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පරිවර්තන පාඨය නොපවතින බව වරලත් ඉංජිනේරුවරයෙකු වන හර්ෂ කුමාර් සූරියආරච්චි මහතා විසින් පෙන්වා දී තිබූ අතර මේ දක්වා එකී පරිවර්තන දෝෂය නිවැරදි කිරීමට විධායකය විසින් ක්‍රියාකර නොතිබීම හේතුවෙන් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 23වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව පරිවර්තනයක් ලෙස පළකර ඇති ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව පමණක් පරීශීලනය කරන දේශිය සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර විද්වතුන්ට නිවැරදිව නෛතික කරුණු අනාවරණය නොවීම දිගටම සිදුවෙයි.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදය

83.

30 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) වන අනුව්‍යවස්ථාවේ නැතහාත් 62 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) වන අනුව්‍යවස්ථාවේ විධිවිධාන සංශෝධනය කිරීම හෝ පරිච්ඡින්න කොට ප්‍රතියෝජනය කිරීම හෝ සදහා වූ නැතහොත් ඒ විධිවිධානවලට අනනුකූල වන්නා වූ ද අවස්ථාවෝචිත පරිදි ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ ධූර කාලය සාවුරුද්දක් ඉක්මවා දීර්ඝ කරන්නා වූ නැතහොත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව පවත්නා කාලය සාවුරුද්දක් ඉක්මවා දීර්ඝ කරන්නා වූ ද පනත් කෙටුම්පතකට,

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදයට අදාලව පවතින ඉංග්‍රීසි පරිවර්තනය

83.(b) 

a Bill for the amendment or for the repeal and replacement of or which is inconsistent with the provisions of paragraph (2) of Article 30 or of paragraph (2) of Article 62 which would extend the term of office of the President or the duration of Parliament, as the case may be, to over six years,

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදය සංශෝධනය කිරීමට 2024.07.18 දින නිකුත් කළ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 78වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ පළ කර ඇති 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත 2වන වගන්තිය මගින්ද ඒකී ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදයේ සිංහල භාෂා පාඨය සහ ඒහි පරිවර්තන ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පාඨයේ වෙනස්කම් ඇති බව යම් ප්‍රමාණයකින් පෙන්නුම් කරයි.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පාඨයේ දෝෂය ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනරජයේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය පිහිටා ඇති ජනතාවට අයුක්තියක් සිදුකරයි.මෙය නිවැරදි කළ හැක්කේ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පරිවර්තනය නිවැරදි කිරීමට විධායකය විසින් පියවර ගෙන ඉංග්‍රීසි පරිවර්තන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව නිවැරදිව නැවත පළ කිරීමෙන්ය.

වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහනේ සමායෝජක වන මාගේ ඉල්ලීමකට අනුව මා සහ වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහනේ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහනට සහභාගී වූ ජයතිලකමුණසිංහගුණතිලක පත්මසිරි යන මහත්වරු රාජ්‍ය භාෂා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති නීතීඥ නිමල් රණවක මහතා සමග 2025 ජූනි 20 දින සාකච්ඡාවක්ද මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් රාජගිරිය ජනජයසිටි ‌ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ රාජ්‍ය භාෂා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති නිලකාමරයේදී පැවති අතර ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ ආ. ඡේදයේ සිංහල සහ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පාඨ අතර වෙනසක් පවතින බවත්එය රාජ්‍ය භාෂා උල්ලංඝනය වීමක් ලෙස සැළකිය නොහැකි බවත් රාජ්‍ය භාෂා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති නීතීඥ නිමල් රණවක මහතා එහිදී ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

(එම සාකච්ඡාවට අදාලව රාජ්‍ය භාෂා සතිය (2025.07.01-2025.07.07) වෙනුවෙන් වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහනේ මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයක්ද නිකුත් කර තිබූ අතර එහි පිටපත් ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලයඅග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයකතානායක කාර්යාලයපාර්ලිමේන්තු මහලේකම් කාර්යාලයශ්‍රී ලංකා නීතීඥ සංගමයනීති කොමිෂන් සභාවනීති කෙටුම්පත් සම්පාදක දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවඅධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයඅධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ මාධ්‍ය අංශයනීති ආධාර කොමිෂන් සභාවශ්‍රී ලංකා නීති විද්‍යාලයනීති පීඨයකොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයරාජ්‍ය භාෂා කොමිෂන් සභාවරාජ්‍ය භා‍ෂා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවමාධ්‍ය ආයතන වෙත ලබා දී ඇත./ යොමු කර ඇත.)

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදය සිංහල භාෂා පාඨයට අනුව ගැලපෙන ලෙස ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පරිවර්තන පාඨය නිවැරදි කරන ලෙස ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමාගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටීමට නීතීඥවරුන් ඇතුළු පුරවැසියන් විසින් අත්සන් කිරීම ආරම්භ කර ඇත.

මෙම ඉල්ලීම 2025 ජූලි මස අවසන් සතියේ දිනක ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමා වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අදහස් කරන අතර ඒ සදහා දිනයක් සහ වේලාවක් ලබා දෙන ලෙස ජනාධිපති ලේකම්තුමා වෙත ඉල්ලීමක්ද කර ඇත.

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2025/07/20250710-83.html

අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන
B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col) නීතීඥ,
සමායෝජකවෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394   (2025.07.10)

Japan to Recruit One Lakh Bangladeshi Workers: An Opportunity, or a Risk to Bilateral Trust?

July 10th, 2025

Mehedi Hasan

In late May 2025, Tokyo announced that it would welcome one lakh (100,000) skilled workers from Bangladesh over the next five years. This initiative will be formalized through memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET) and Japanese partners. By 2040, Japan’s labour shortage is expected to reach around 11 million, while Bangladesh’s youth are eager for jobs. However, a big question arose: will this initiative deliver mutual benefits, or will missteps strain the hard-earned trust between Dhaka and Tokyo? Let’s explore what we can discover.

Directly speaking, this potential has a high chance of bringing better benefits to Bangladesh if carefully managed. First of all, it will create a massive employment opportunity for Bangladeshi unemployed youths. Actually, at the time of Bangladeshi’s struggle for a high-paying job, it will truly appear as a highly cherished blessing. Second, this activity will leverage our economy, injecting millions of dollars in remittances. Bangladesh Bank (BB) data show that Bangladesh received $112.99 million in remittance inflows from Japan in FY 2022-23. Now, think about what would happen if 100,000 workers could successfully land there for dedicated jobs? It might be a billion-dollar opportunity. It also helps to maintain financial stability, supporting our development and growth significantly without external debt.

Third, working in Japan offers more benefits beyond monetary compensation. It provides valuable skills development and management philosophy. Japan’s workplaces are famous for practices like Kaizen (continuous improvement) and the 5S methodology (a disciplined 5-step approach to organizing the workplace). Bangladeshi workers can fulfil their thirst for knowledge by learning total quality management (TQM), time management, lean production, job rotation, and other relevant skills. Over time, this knowledge could elevate Bangladesh’s industries. Additionally, Japanese-returning Bangladeshi employees will have preferences for working in Japanese institutions in Bangladesh.

Fourth, Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus enthused, ‘This initiative will open the door for Bangladeshis not only to work but also to know Japan.’ The flow of workers fosters deeper cultural connections, working as an informal ambassador of Bangladesh in Japan. Prior logics may depict Japan as the only opportunity, but this is not the only scenario. To transform the benefit into reality, we need to address the significant challenges and cultural gaps.

Japanese workplaces are highly disciplined and group-oriented. They frequently emphasize long-term commitment, the senpai-kohai system (senior-junior relations), consensus and collective harmony, the ringi system (bottom-up decision-making system), and believe in an immaculately organized workspace. But these tendencies are comparatively unfamiliar in Bangladesh. Instead, we concentrate on the more centralized decision-making.

Training and language constraints are another hurdle. The Daily Star quotes a foreign ministry official warning, We haven’t been able to train enough people” to meet these standards. Bangladesh has lacked sufficient Japanese language teachers. Besides, Bangladesh should scale up vocational programs quickly. These two nations have significant variations in workproductivity. They (Japanese) are used to working long hours and giving meticulous attention to details. Their tendency to maintain a strict schedule is also a significant challenge for Bangladeshi people.

Different social norms are critical issues in this perspective. Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country; in contrast, Shintoism and Buddhism covered a large portion of Japanese society. A friction may appear between bowing and a handshake. Furthermore, Japanese heavy omotenashi (hospitality) is comparatively fresh and unique to Bangladeshi workers.  These cultural variations and sensitivities can lead to misunderstandings and miscommunications. The Japanese are very sensitive to crime rates and law violations, but we are often accustomed to breaking lawsfrequently. These types of activities may lead to reputational damage and undermine public support for the program.

So, what should Bangladesh do now? Bangladesh should make skills tests mandatory for visa processing. Besides, curriculum development is immediately urgent to offer in-depth knowledge about eldercare practices, Japanese language, and management philosophy, like understanding of 5S (Sort (Seiri), Set in Order (Seiton), Shine (Seiso), Standardize (Seiketsu), and Sustain (Shitsuke)), Kaizen. Ultimately, we have to align Japanese needs with our technical and training institute.

Bangladesh must ensure that selected candidates are not only qualified but also mentally and culturally prepared, and that they are well-informed about Japanese workplace norms, social customs, punctuality, and legal affairs. They must understand that they are the informal brand ambassadors of Bangladesh. We must take strict measures against unscrupulous manpower agencies. To maintain transparency, both nations should establish a bilateral monitoring committee, which can share regular data on performance, placements, and workers’ welfare, thereby helping to foster bilateral trust quickly. People-to-people support should be enforced to teach adaptability, where pre-migrants help newcomers.

Ultimately, the recruitment of 100,000 workers presents both opportunities and challenges for Bangladesh. If we can understand their work culture, then it’s truly a blessing; however, misunderstanding or disobeying it poses a risk to the hard-earned trust that has been established.

*About Author:

Mehedi Hasan, researcher and former student of Japanese Studies, Social Science Faculty, University of Dhaka. He can be reach at: mhmehedi505@gmail.com

Govt should be ashamed over mishandling of U.S. tariff deal: Dayasiri

July 10th, 2025

CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA   Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, July 10 (Daily Mirror) – Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara today accused the government of mishandling tariff negotiations with the United States, claiming Sri Lanka had failed to secure meaningful benefits from the recent tariff reductions announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a media briefing in Colombo, Jayasekara said the National People’s Power (NPP) government should be ashamed of its incompetence, noting that while Sri Lanka’s tariff rate on exports to the U.S. was reduced from 44% to 30%, the country missed an opportunity for greater concessions.

This cannot be called a positive moment for Sri Lanka,” he remarked. If the government had conducted negotiations with a proper, constructive approach, the country could have secured more relief. The government boasting about this as a success is laughable.”

Jayasekara pointed out that Sri Lanka could have obtained a larger reduction — possibly the highest among the countries listed by the U.S. President for tariff revisions — if it had approached talks strategically.

He also criticised the lack of an official government statement or strategy during the negotiations. They were too busy saying ‘I am the one’ instead of acting in the country’s interest, and that has led us to this unfortunate situation,” he said.

Highlighting trade imbalances, the MP noted that Sri Lanka exports about USD 3 million worth of goods to the U.S. while importing USD 368 million. He urged the government to prioritise measures to narrow the USD 2.6 million trade gap, warning that continued inaction would further destabilise the already fragile economy.

If this had been handled with the right vision and leadership, Sri Lanka could have capitalised on this opportunity,” Jayasekara added.

U.S. 30% tariffs a wake-up call for Sri Lanka’s export economy, says former ambassador Kananathan.

July 10th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, July 10 (Daily Mirror) – The United States yesterday”s announcement of a 30% tariff on Sri Lankan imports marks a significant blow to the country’s export sector, with estimated losses projected between USD 1.2 to 1.5 billion over the next 12 months. However, former Ambassador Kananathan has emphasized that this development should serve not just as a setback but as a critical turning point.

This is a wake-up call for Sri Lanka’s export economy,” Kananathan said. Over-reliance on a single market, limited diversification, and a lag in innovation have left our industries exposed.”

The gap may widen further unless Sri Lanka shifts toward cost efficiency or niche product development and  have a diverse export portfolio like Malaysia (electronics) or Vietnam (tech, furniture, seafood). The new 30% tariff is applied in addition to the existing 10%, effectively raising the total duty to 40%. goods are still more expensive than those from Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. This put Sri lanka on a price disadvantage. Tariff disadvantages may push U.S. buyers and investors to shift operations to Vietnam, Bangaladesh  or India. This hurts FDI inflows, especially into Sri Lanka’s apparel sector, which employs hundreds of thousands. In the case of apparels despite the new tariff for Bangaladesh  is increased to 35% Bangladesh remains cheaper than Sri Lanka.

This is due to lower production costs, high-volume capability,and lower factory costs due to cheap labor and material

He stressed that the urgent need for a strategic reset: We must seize this moment to recalibrate building a stronger, more diversified, and future-ready export model.

Kananathan pointed to regional integration as a key opportunity. Greater cooperation through platforms such as SAARC, BIMSTEC, and the pursuit of new Free Trade Agreements could offer Sri Lankan exporters improved market access and leverage.

He also highlighted the potential of technology-enabled exports. Sectors like software development, business process outsourcing (BPO), and financial services are immune to traditional trade barriers such as tariffs and offer substantial growth prospects. Scaling these industries should be a national priority.”

With the vulnerabilities of U.S. market dependence laid bare, Sri Lankan exporters are being urged to look outward. Markets in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East remain underexplored. The EU’s GSP+ scheme continues to provide preferential access, while regions such as India, ASEAN, and parts of Africa present significant untapped demand.

Kananathan’s forward-looking message said The road ahead will be challenging, but with the right reforms and strategic focus, Sri Lanka can emerge more resilient and competitive on the global stage

“ලබන වසර පහ තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථිකය නැවත යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කළ හැකිද?

July 10th, 2025

ලංකාවෙබ් කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය විසින් රචිතයි

කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය පක්ෂ්ග්රාහික නොවනනිසා “ලබන වසර පහ තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථිකය නැවත යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කළ හැකිද?” යනුවෙන් අපි කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධියෙන් විමසා බැලුවෙමු: කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය දෙන ලද පිළිතුර මෙහි දැක්වේ

ඔව්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථිකය ලබන අවුරුදු පහකදී නැවත ආරෝග්‍යමත් කළ හැකිය. එය එතරම් සම්භාව්‍ය නොවේ — ඒ සඳහා සවිමත් ව්‍යාපාරික ප්‍රතිපත්ති, දේශපාලන ස්ථාවරත්වය සහ ජාතික සහයෝගිතාවක් අවශ්‍ය වේ.

මෙයට උපකාරී වන කරුණු කිහිපය:

  1. මූල්‍ය අධිපතිකරණය සහ ණය කළමනාකරණය
    IMF සහ අන්තරාෂ්ට්‍රීය ආයතන සමඟ ඇති ගිවිසුම් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරමින් රාජ්‍ය වියදම් පාලනය කිරීම සහ ආදායම් වැඩි කිරීම වැදගත් වේ.
  2. නිෂ්පාදනය සහ අපනයන වැඩි කිරීම
    කෘෂිකර්මය, තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණය සහ කර්මාන්තශාලා මඟින් විදේශ විනිමය උපයන ක්ෂේත්‍ර වර්ධනය කිරීම.
  3. විදේශ ආයෝජන ආකර්ෂණය
    නීතිමය ස්ථාවරත්වයක් සහ දේශපාලන විශ්වාසය ඇති කරමින් විදේශ ආයෝජකයින් සඳහා ආකර්ෂණීය පරිසරයක් සැලසීම.
  4. ජනතා සහයෝගය සහ විශ්වාසය ලබා ගැනීම
    ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයන්ට සහය දක්වන ආකාරයට ජනතාව නව්‍යකරණය කිරීම.
  5. පරිපාලන කාර්යක්ෂමතාව වැඩි කිරීම
    දූෂණය අඩු කරමින්, ස්වයංපූර්ණ ආර්ථිකයකට මාරු වීම.

නව අවදානම්

  • දේශපාලන අස්ථාවරතාවය
  • ගෝලීය ආර්ථික අනතුරු (උදා: තෙල් මිල, යුධ ගැටුම්)
  • ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයන්ට ජනතා විරෝධතාව

අන්තිමයෙන්, අවුරුදු පහක කාලය තුළ ආර්ථිකය සුවපත් කළ හැකියි. නමුත් ඒ සඳහා ශක්තිමත් නායකත්වයක්, විශ්වාසදායක ක්‍රියාමාර්ග සහ දිගුකාලීන දැක්මක් අවශ්‍ය වේ.

අයුතු ලාභය උදෙසා වෛද්‍ය පහසුකම් භාවිතය – ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සෞඛ්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයට දැමෙන සෙරින අවදානමක්.

July 9th, 2025

ලංකාවෙබ් කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය විසින් රචිතයි

වෛද්‍ය පහසුකම් භාවිතයෙන් අයුතු ආකාරයට ලාභ ලබාගැනීම – ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අතිචාරයකි

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රය බහුතරයක් විශ්වාසයට හා කරුණාවට පදනම්ව ක්‍රියාත්මක වුවද, නවීන යුගයේදී විශේෂයෙන්ම පෞද්ගලික සන්සුන් රෝහල් සහ වෛද්‍යවරුන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු විසින් අයුතු ආකාරයට ලාභ සෙවීමේ ප්‍රවණතාවක් දක්නට ලැබේ.

රෝගීන්ට අත්‍යවශ්‍ය නොවන පරීක්ෂණ, විශේෂඥයන්ට යොමුකිරීම් සහ අධික ඖෂධ සෙට් පැකේජ මගින් මුදල් ආදායම වැඩි කිරීම මෙහි සාමාන්‍ය උදාහරණ වේ. සමහර වෛද්‍යවරුන් රෝගීන්ගේ අවිබේදාත්මක භීතිය සහ අසාධ්‍යතාවය අයුතු වාණිජ වාසියක් ලෙස පරිවර්තනය කරයි.

මෙවැනි ක්‍රියාකලාප, රෝගීන්ගේ විශ්වාසය හා සෞඛ්‍ය පද්ධතියේ නීතිමය සහ ආචාරශීලී සම්මතයන්ට දැඩි අභියෝගයක් වන අතර, ජනයාට සාධාරණ සහ නිවැරදි සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවක් ලැබීමට ඇති හැකියාව අවදානමකට ලක්කරයි.

එබැවින්, වෛද්‍ය සංගම්, නීතිමය ආයතන සහ සමාජයම මෙවැනි අයුතු ක්‍රියා වලට එරෙහිව නීතිමය සහ ආචාරශීලී මට්ටමින් දඩුවම් හා නිරීක්ෂණ පියවර ගත යුතුය. සෞඛ්‍යය යනු වාණිජ භාණ්ඩයක් නොව, මිනිස් ජීවිතවල මූලික අවශ්‍යතාවයක් බව නොවිය යුතුය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සෞඛ්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රය පසුගිය දශක ගණනාවක තිස්සේ විශාල ප්‍රගතියක් දැක්වූ අතර, වෛද්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ කැපවීම හා විශේෂඥතාවය නිසා රෝගීන්ගේ ජීවිත රැක ගැනීමේ ගණන් කතාවක්ම නැති සේවාවක් සපයමින් තිබුණි. එහෙත්, වර්තමානයේදී පෞද්ගලික වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ඇතිවී ඇති අයුතු වාණිජීකරණ ප්‍රවණතා නිසා මෙම ගෞරවයට තර්කයකි.

අයුතු ලාභය පිටුපස ඇති ක්‍රමවේද

කීපයක වාර්තා සහ සාක්ෂි අනුව, රෝගීන්ට අත්‍යවශ්‍ය නොවන පරීක්ෂණ, රෝග විනිශ්චය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය නොවන ඉහළ මුදලකට දැරිය හැකි සෙරීස් පරීක්ෂණ, ඖෂධ සෙට් පත්‍ර, සහ නිතරම සිදුවන විශේෂඥ යොමු කිරීම් මඟින් රෝගීන්ගෙන් මුදල් අය කරනු ලබයි. බොහෝවිට මෙම සේවාවන් ලබාදෙන ආයතන හා ඖෂධ සමාගම් අතර අන්තර්ගත ගිවිසුම් තිබෙන බවට සැක ඇත.

පර්යේෂණ සහ සාක්ෂි

2022දී ශ්‍රී ලංකා සෞඛ්‍ය ආචාරධර්ම සංගමය (Sri Lanka Medical Ethics Association – SLMEA) පළ කළ වාර්තාවක දැක්වෙයි:

  • පෞද්ගලික වෛද්‍ය උපදෙස් ලැබූ රෝගීන්ගෙන් 37%ක් පවසන ලදී තමුන්ට අනවශ්‍ය ලෙස පරීක්ෂණ යෝජනා කරන බව.
  • රෝහලකින් රෝහලට යොමු කිරීම්වලින් 25%ක් පමණ වාණිජ හේතු මත සිදු වන බව විශ්ලේෂණයකින් අනාවරණය විය.
  • නිතරම ආයතනික තැපැල් හරහා වෛද්‍යවරුන්ට ඖෂධ සමාගම්වලින් ලැබෙන දීමනා සහ ත්‍යාග ද වාර්තා වෙයි.

වෛද්‍ය ආචාරධර්මය සහ විශ්වාසය බිඳීම

වෛද්‍ය වෘත්තිය සදහා මූලික සම්මතයක් වන්නේ, රෝගියාගේ යහපත ප්‍රමුඛත්වයට ගෙන ක්‍රියා කිරීමයි.” එහෙත් අයුතු ආදායම සෙවීම සඳහා වෛද්‍ය පහසුකම් භාවිතා කිරීම මෙම ප්‍රතිපත්තියට සෘජු ව්‍යාජයකි.

මෙය රෝගීන් අතර ඇති විශ්වාසය බිඳ දැමීමේ පමණක් නොව, මුළු සෞඛ්‍ය පද්ධතියම වාණිජික සහ විකෘති පරිදි දකින සමාජ චින්තනයක් ද උපන් කරයි. විශේෂයෙන් ආදායම් අඩු ජනතාවට මෙවැනි ප්‍රවණතා දැඩි ලෙස බලපායි.

නීතිමය හා ආයතනික පිළිතුරු අවශ්‍යතාවය

මෙවැනි වාණිජීකරණය පාලනය කිරීම සඳහා සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය, වෛද්‍ය සභාව, සහ වෘත්තිමය ආයතන විසින්:

  • සවිස්තරීකරණ ලිපිනයකින් පරීක්ෂණ වාර්තා සටහන් තැබීම,
  • වෛද්‍යවරුන් සඳහා විශේෂ ආචාරධර්ම පුහුණු වැඩසටහන්,
  • නීතිමය පියවර සහ උසස් පෙළ පරීක්ෂණ කමිටු,

යනාදී ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වහාම ගැනීම අත්‍යවශ්‍යය.

අවසන් වශයෙන්…

සෞඛ්‍යය යනු වාණිජ භාණ්ඩයක් නොව, මිනිස් ජීවිතවල අභීත මූලික අවශ්‍යතාවයකි. වෛද්‍යවරුන්ගේ වෘත්තිමය වගකීම්වලට ගරු කරමින්, ජනතාවට සාධාරණ, නිවැරදි සහ විශ්වාසදායක සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවක් උදෙසා පියවර ගන්නා අවස්ථාව මෙයයි. සෞඛ්‍යය විකිණිය යුතු නැත — රැකිය යුතු එකක් ය.

REFLECTIONS ON CUBA, BRICS AND GEOPOLITICS

July 9th, 2025

Asoka Bandarage

I returned to the U.S. from Cuba just a few hours before Donald Trump signed a memorandum on June 30, 2025, tightening the long-standing U.S. economic blockade against Cuba. The memorandum includes a statutory ban on U.S. tourism to the neighboring island.

Despite a long fascination for the island nation, I did not volunteer for the Venceremos Brigade to Cuba during my college years. Finally, my wish to see the legendary island of anti-imperialist revolution—the so-called ‘last bastion of socialism in the western hemisphere’—came true.

I enjoyed Cuba’s resplendent land and waters, the vibrancy of its music and dance, and the warm hospitality of its racially integrated people. I visited the impressive places and monuments of its colonial and modern history, receiving a wealth of interesting and intriguing information from my wonderful Cuban guides and other sources.

The history of Cuba is one of struggle and transformation. The original Taino people were extinct due to the Spanish conquest. The Revolution of 1898 brought liberation under scholar-poet Jose Marti, only to be followed by US neocolonial rule from 1902 to 1959. During the latter part of this period, the Batista dictatorship and his American business and Mafia connections dominated the island.

The armed struggle culminating in the 1959 Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara and others, transformed the nation. The Cuban Communist Party under Fidel Castro’s rule (1959-2008) implemented widespread confiscation and wealth redistribution. Throughout this period and up to date, the US has maintained occupation of Guantanamo Bay (the first US overseas military base) under a 1903 perpetual lease agreement following the Spanish-American War.

Cuba’s Present Crisis

Unfortunately, what I encountered in my homestays and travel around the island was far from the thriving socialist society I had hoped to see. The once magnificent buildings in Havana and other cities are dilapidated and the streets strewn with litter. Lacking reliable public transportation, people stand on streets around the island patiently waiting to catch rides from any vehicle that will stop—among them, the still widely used pre-Revolution American cars and horse-drawn carriages.

The island is currently facing its worst economic crisis since the 1959 revolution. Long and daily power cuts, scarce internet connection, food and medicine shortages, and high prices are the realities of present-day Cuba. Some staple items like beans are nowhere to be found; rice production has declined and much is now imported. Sugar, too, has become an import in Cuba, which, until recently, was the leading sugar exporter in the world.

People cannot make ends meet with their meager incomes—a doctor’s monthly salary is approximately US$50. Even by conservative World Bank estimates, 72% of all Cubans live below the poverty line. Beggars seem to be everywhere, with the African community descendant from slavery being the most economically victimized.

Young professionals, products of the island’s renowned free education and health care systems, are emigrating to the US, Europe, and elsewhere, leaving mostly the elderly behind. Cuba reportedly lost some 13% of its 11 million population between 2020 and 2024, due largely to emigration. Financial remittances from emigrants are essential for their families’ survival at home.

In private, people complain bitterly about government mismanagement and corruption, expressing concern about the island’s future and people’s survival. Given state authoritarianism and repression, there is no independent media, visible organized resistance, or public demonstrations.

The Cuban government blames U.S. sanctions and blockade, operative since the early 1960s, for the island’s economic strangulation. In contrast, the US and its Cuban-American supporters blame socialism for Cuba’s failures.

Notwithstanding claims to be a leader of the international Non-Aligned Movement, Cuba withstood the 1961 CIA-backed Cuban-American Bay of Pigs invasion and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis by aligning itself with the Soviet Union, eventually becoming its client state. The dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1992 and the recent Covid crisis have dealt severe blows to the Cuban economy and society. The decline in tourism, one of the most important sectors of the Cuban economy, will be further impacted by Donald Trump’s recent statutory ban on U.S. tourism.

Is the opening of Cuba to neo-liberal capitalism—including global finance capital, the IMF, international intervention by the US (and its Cuban-American supporters awaiting return of land and business confiscated by the Cuban Revolution)—the solution to Cuba’s current economic crisis?

The Path Forward

Government mismanagement, corruption, repression and authoritarianism, economic collapse, agricultural decline, lack of employment, shortages of fuel and food, rising prices, powerlessness, despair and labor emigration characterize much of the world following neoliberal policies today. These countries also face the threats of international intervention, regime change, sanctions and blockades if they attempt to strike out on independent paths of economic and political development outside western-dominated neoliberalism.

Is BRICS the alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism, the path to resolving the crisis in Cuba and much of the world?

The Global South-led BRICS constitutes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates as well as ten partner countries including Cuba, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Today, the BRICS countries together are estimated to account for 56% of world population, 44% of global GDP.

The BRICS alliance provides a much-needed platform to explore alternative mechanisms like the New Development Bank and bilateral trade agreements to reduce reliance on Western financial institutions, such as the IMF and currencies, specifically the U.S dollar. While BRICS rejects certain aspects of western dominated geopolitics and hierarchical North-South relations, it upholds neoliberal economic principles: competition, free trade, open markets, export-led growth and globalization, unfettered technological expansion.

BRICS aims to advance its members within the existing global capitalist order, rather than create a fundamental alternative to the capitalist paradigm which prioritizes profit-led growth before environmental sustainability and human well-being. As such, corporate hegemony, concentration of wealth by a global elite spanning the North and the South as well technological and military domination are not challenged. Neither does BRICS challenge political authoritarianism within its member countries or the possibility of the emergence of forms of authoritarian capitalism. Composed of countries unequal in size, economic and military power, BRICS may also easily reproduce unequal exchange and new forms of colonialism in south-south relations.

False Alternative

Although barely noticeable to a visitor, China is quietly replacing the former Soviet Union as Cuba’s benefactor, expanding its economic activities on the island. Since 2018, Cuba has joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the massive infrastructural project connecting some 150 countries around the world. While the US is tightening its trade blockade, China has become Cuba’s largest trading partner and the primary provider of technology for infrastructure, telecommunications, renewable energy sources, the tourism industry, and other important areas of Cuba’s development.

Some critics of US imperialism tend to see China as a benevolent alternative to US and western domination. There are claims that certain media outlets promoting such perspectives may be linked to a funding source associated with China. Even if it is true, the political and military intentions of Chinese economic expansion can only be known in the future.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China has increased its nuclear arsenal by 20% from an estimated 500 to over 600 warheads in 2025. According to US government sources, China has also established satellite intelligence infrastructure or ‘spy bases’ in Cuba that can target the United States commercial and military operations. Cuba, located only some 90 miles from the Florida coastline, could well be drawn into the geopolitical confrontation between the United States and China as it was during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis being a case in point.

Even though the world is moving towards an inexorable market and technologically controlled reality, the rationality of this trajectory must be questioned. The need for balanced ecological and social frameworks upholding bioregionalism, local control of resources, food self-sufficiency need to be considered. Freedom of expression, right to dissent, and collective organizing undermined by both neoliberal capitalism and socialist authoritarianism must be upheld. This requires the awakening of consciousness to create a human society founded on wisdom and generosity over competition and exploitation.

The words of the great nineteenth century Cuban patriot, Jose Marti (1853-1895) are still applicable to the transformation needed in both Cuba and the world:

“Happiness exists on earth, and it is won through prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and constant practice of generosity.”

Asoka Bandarage  has served on the faculties of Brandeis, Mount Holyoke and Georgetown  and is the author of books including Colonialism in Sri Lanka; The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka, Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy,  Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World and numerous other publications on global political economy and related subjects. www.bandarage.com

Tale of Two Countries. Staggering Contrast: Singapore & Sri Lanka. 

July 9th, 2025

Prof. Hudson McLean

One with rich arable agricultural land, tea, rubber, coconut, round the Island fisheries, and the other a muddy newly independent nation, grappling with poverty, high unemployment, and a lack of natural resources.

Independence Gained:

4th Feb 1948  the population of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was approximately 7.1 million

9th Aug 1965  the population ofSingapore in 1965 was approximately 1,886,900.

Today Singapore rides high in the World, as a Highly Developed First World Rich country, with a Passport recognized by the world, entry without Visas. 

The Number One Best Passport in the World  Singapore – 193 destinations .

Today Sri Lanka is struggling as a Third World country with Sri Lankan passport holders have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a limited number of countries.

The Top Five Non-Corrupt countries in the world are-: Denmark – Finland – New Zealand – Singapore – Switzerland over thirteen years.

Whilst Singapore ranks highest as a non-Corrupt country, Sri Lanka ranks No. 32.

https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024

Why is Sri Lanka Stagnant?

1: Poor Leadership

2: High Corruption

3: Old Fashioned Education system

4: No Time Management

5: General Lazy Sinhalese Character

Why Singapore Scored High?

1: Top Leadership started by Lee Kwan Yew

2: No Corruption

3: Education System Geared to Economic Needs

4: Working Like Clock

5: Chinese Super Mindset

Compared to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam,  the Sri Lankan immigrants into European Union are way behind!

Hopefully the current government may try to improve the standards.

The Government Leadership is far below that of the neighbouring countries.

Get-Out-of-the-Box.  Look at the World Outside!

Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say!
The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

Please visit -: http://www.lankaweb.com/

Can China set up an alternative to SAARC minus India?

July 9th, 2025

Anuradha Chenoy

— July 7, 2025

China may see a regional vacuum with a non-functional #SAARC, but it is unlikely to succeed in filling the gap with another regional entity.

China and Pakistan are reportedly trying to create a new regional bloc that can be an alternative to the increasingly dysfunctional South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).  India is likely to be excluded from the initiative.

In a meeting held in Kunming on June 19, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh apparently discussed the possibility of forming the new regional bloc to focus on economic integration, infrastructure development and regional connectivity. 

India’s determination to isolate Pakistan and not engage with it has negatively impacted South Asian regionalism and the regional associations built around it, namely SAARC and South Asian Free Trade Association (SAFTA). 

Can the SAARC gap be filled by China?  And would doing so serve China’s strategic goals in the region?

SAARC has not held a formal summit since 2014, in keeping with India’s position of no engagement with Pakistan, a state it accuses of supporting terrorism. 

India’s focus instead has been on strong bilateralism with its South Asian neighbours. So far, China has done the same by significantly building strong relations with South Asian countries.

READBRICS economic goals clash with India’s Quad strategy

Pakistan-China ‘all weather’ ties

China’s favourite South Asian nation by far is Pakistan, with whom they have an ‘all weather’ relationship. 

Pakistan’s geopolitical dalliance with the US and its willingness to play proxy to US interests, however, stops short of its loyalty to China. 

Even as India and China seek to improve their relations and deepen trade ties, the Sino-Pak relationship is a red light for India. 

Pakistan’s perceived role in sponsoring terrorism against it deters India from building regional cooperation as it pressures its regional allies to shun Pakistan. 

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The smaller South Asia nations, however, have their own way of hedging and leveraging regional powers, and each has its own agenda. 

Bangladesh courts China

Bangladesh’s relations with India took a nosedive after the recent regime change when India’s known favourite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted by a populist student led movement. It brought economist-technocrat Mohammad Yunus as interim head of government and Hasina took political asylum in India. 

Yunus is systematically improving relations with Pakistan which had adversarial relations with Bangladesh ever since the painful and bloody independence from Pakistan in 1971, which India facilitated with a significant military role. 

Moreover, Yunus also seeks to strengthen Bangladesh’s relations with China. Unlike with India, Bangladesh’s relations with China remain not just unchanged but deepening after the ouster of Hasina. 

China already supplies 72 percent of Bangladesh military  equipment.  Now, Bangladesh’s ‘Forces Goal 2030’ can boost Chinese arms imports to a new level. 

The difference is that while the Hasina Government took care of Indian sensitivities, Yunus has no such interest. Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said that the changed regime in Dhaka has not set back China’s commitment to develop ties with Bangladesh. 

Nepal’s equidistance

Nepal, which houses the SAARC Secretariate, hedges its foreign policy in regional geopolitics. Sandwiched between India and China, Nepal has a deep dependence on India for trade and transit but it also wants China’s development assistance. 

Nepal benefits from India’s open-door (visa-less) entry for Nepali citizens. However, India also has the capability to arm-twist Nepal and has blockaded it  in 1989 as well as 2015 and intervening not so subtly in its domestic politics.  

Nepal has, however, learnt to balance between India and China. Nepal is a participant in China’s Belt and Road initiative but it also has development compacts  with India.  Nepal clearly favours non-alignment and non-entanglement, keeping away from the Sino-Indian rivalry. 

Uneasy Bhutan and the Maldives

Bhutan remains uneasy about China’s declared claims for Bhutanese territory on the Doklam Plateau. The Tibet Autonomous Region of China has a 470-kilometer border with Bhutan.

India on its part has pressured Bhutan on occasion withdrawing subsidies on gas and kerosene (Bhutan is dependent on India for these) and imposing its goods and services tax on Bhutanese imports into India. These steps make Bhutan cautious about both India and China as the Bhutanese are sensitive about their identity and sovereignty.

The Maldives has got into a debt-trap with China to the tune of US$ 3.2 billion. However, it also seeks and receives Chinese development and infrastructure assistance. Now, Maldives is also trying to  navigate stronger ties with India.

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Sri Lanka’s balancing game

Sri Lanka has also sought to balance between India and China.  

It was an early reformer into neoliberal economic restructuring but started facing unprecedented political and economic crises since 2022 — due to a combination of factors that include the impact of Covid-19 on tourism, the Ukraine conflict, its earlier civil war with its Tamil minority, political corruption and international debt.

This forced Sri Lanka to seek IMF loans 16 times. Nearly  80 percent of Sri Lankan debt is from International Sovereign Bonds — not China. Moreover, the US has an interest in Sri Lanka as a strategic marine base. 

China plays up to Afghanistan

China has sought to mediate to smoothen the turbulent relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan but has not met with much success. However, it does have an economic relationship with the Taliban government in Afghanistan since it envisages expanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) northwards to Afghanistan and then the Central Asian Republics. At the same time, China has concerns about Taliban’s links with radical Islamic groups especially the Uighurs present in Afghanistan.

With these geopolitical tugs and pulls between regional powers would China manage to build a SAARC-like organisation? 

The prospect seems quite unlikely. 

China is interested in advancing its trade and exercising economic leverage. Getting into any new formal regional organisation that competes with India pushed SAARC — even if it is defunct does not serve its purpose currently.

India and SAARC

As far as India and SAARC is concerned, India needs to revive a regional body. If not SAARC, then SAFTA.  While India is plagued by the terror issue allegedly emanating from Pakistan, it cannot allow regionalism trade and related issues to be held hostage on account of the zero-sum game with Pakistan. 

Moreover, putting pressure on smaller neighbours gives India the reputation of a regional bully — something that India implies about China of. India itself does not like the biggest bully, the US, pressuring South Asian countries, including India. It makes no sense for India, therefore, to do precisely what it criticises in others. 

Clearly, most of the small regional states would like a regional organisation to vent their views. After all, most other regions have a working regional organisation that gives them collective heft, like ASEAN, the African Union, the Economic Commission for Latin America and so on.  

At the same time, the smaller nations of South Asia neighbouring India and China would be unlikely to join a regional organisation that would alienate either of them. Both India and China understand that. 

Anuradha Chenoy is Adjunct Professor, O P Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info.

Trump targets Sri Lanka, Philippines & 5 others in latest tariff wave

July 9th, 2025

Courtesy Fibre2Fashion

Insights

  • President Trump has announced new tariffs on imports from seven additional countries—Sri Lanka, Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Iraq, and Libya—ranging from 20 to 30 per cent, effective August 1, 2025.
  • This move intensifies the US trade overhaul, with more countries expected to be named soon.
  • High tariffs have already been imposed on nations like Indonesia and Cambodia.

US President Donald Trump has issued a new round of tariff letters to seven more countries, escalating the administration’s sweeping trade overhaul. In letters shared via screenshots on Truth Social, tariffs were announced for Sri Lanka, Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Iraq and Libya, with duties ranging from 20 to 30 per cent on all imports to the US.

Starting August 1, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Iraq, and Libya will face a flat 30 per cent tariff on all exports to the US. Brunei and Moldova will be subject to a 25 per cent rate, while goods from the Philippines will be taxed at 20 per cent.

Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Sri Lanka a tariff of only 30 per cent on any and all Sri Lankan products sent into the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs. Goods transhipped to evade a higher tariff will be subject to that higher tariff,” President Trump wrote in his letter to Sri Lankan President Aruna Kumara Dissanayake.

Similar notices were addressed to the leaders of the rest of the nations as well.

President Trump has confirmed more announcements are expected on Wednesday. “We will be releasing a minimum of 7 countries having to do with trade, tomorrow morning, with an additional number of countries being released in the afternoon,” he stated in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.

Tariffs already declared in previous rounds include 25 per cent duties on imports from Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and Tunisia. South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina are facing 30 per cent tariffs, while Indonesia has been hit with a 32 per cent rate. A 35 per cent tariff has been imposed on goods from Bangladesh and Serbia. Thailand and Cambodia are subject to a 36 per cent levy, and the highest rate so far—40 per cent—applies to imports from Myanmar and Laos.

Thus far, only the UK, China, and Vietnam have secured finalised trade agreements with Washington.

US slaps 30% tariff on Sri Lanka

July 9th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

U.S. President Donald Trump has added Sri Lanka to his growing list of trade targets, issuing a letter on Wednesday announcing a new 30% tariff on all imported goods from Sri Lanka. 

The move comes as part of a broader tariff push aimed at multiple countries, with levies set to take effect from August 1, 2025, pending trade negotiations.

According to a copy of the letter posted on Trump’s social-media platform Truth Social, the proposed 30% tariff for Sri Lanka is a reduction from an earlier 44% rate floated in April this year. The same tariff rate will also apply to Algeria, Libya, and Iraq three of seven countries included in Wednesday’s wave of trade actions.

In the letter, Trump highlighted the longstanding trade imbalance between the United States and Sri Lanka, claiming the relationship has been “far from reciprocal” due to Sri Lanka’s tariffs, non-tariff policies, and trade barriers. He insisted that the new tariff was necessary to address what he described as persistent trade deficits, which he labeled a threat to U.S. economic interests and national security.

Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Sri Lanka a tariff of only 30% on any and all Sri Lankan products sent into the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs,” the letter stated, adding that any attempts to bypass the tariff through transshipment would be met with higher penalties.

Trump further offered an incentive, saying Sri Lanka could avoid these tariffs if Sri Lankan businesses chose to manufacture products within the United States, promising expedited approvals for such ventures.

He also warned that should Sri Lanka retaliate by raising its own tariffs, the U.S. would increase the 30% levy by an equivalent amount.

Concluding the letter, Trump expressed hope for a long-term trading partnership but made clear that the tariffs could be adjusted upward or downward” depending on future relations between the two countries.

This latest announcement marks the seventh such tariff letter unveiled by Trump on Wednesday alone, targeting nations including Algeria, Brunei, the Philippines, Iraq, Libya, and Moldova underscoring an aggressive trade stance as part of his ongoing policy platform.

Easter attack network still active under current govt: Mujibur

July 9th, 2025

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

Colombo, July 09 (Daily Mirror)- President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should have known that the network of those who launched Easter Sunday attacks function under the present government as well, Opposition MP Mujibur Rahman said today.

The President recently said the government will have to subject its own self to a probe in order to find the truth behind the Easter Sunday attacks. He cannot grumble now by saying what he said a few days ago. He should have known that the network of those who led the Easter Sunday attacks functions under the present government as well,” MP Rahman told Parliament.

What the government should do now is to carry out a proper investigation on the Easter Sunday attacks. You have two able men with you now. Use Shani Abeysekera the current director of CID and secretary to ministry of Public Security Ravi Seneviratne to carry out an investigation,” he added.

Find out who took Sarah Yesmin away from Zahran’s house in the East,” he also said.

Officers facing allegations probing Easter Sunday’s attacks – Opposition MP

July 9th, 2025

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana, Courtesy Daily mirror

Colombo, July 9 (Daily Mirror) – Opposition Parliamentarian D. V. Chanaka told Parliament yesterday that the investigation into the Easter Sunday’s attack is being handled by two officers who had allegedly ignored over 90 prior warnings on the attack. Investigations on Easter Sunday attacks are handled by officers who face allegations, opposition MP D. V. Chanaka told Parliament today.

These two officers are the ones who neglected more than 90 pre warnings of Easter Sunday attacks. The commission appointed by former President Maithripala Sirisena has recommended action against these two officers,” the MP said.

One of these two officers who is now the secretary Ministry of Public Security and the other who is the head of intelligence are ones who walked into the JVP Headquarters at Pelawatte and held press conferences,” he added.

Furthermore, the MP said it was Ibrahim who was on JVP National list in 2015 who had funded the extremists who were involved in the Easter Sunday attacks.

පරීක්ෂාවකින් තොරව වරායෙන් පිටකළ බහාලුම් ගැන CIDයට ප්‍රකාශයක් දෙන්න ගිය විමල් එළියට ඇවිත් හෙළිකරපු සුවිශේෂී හෙළිදරව්ව මෙන්න.. (වීඩියෝ)

July 9th, 2025

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, විශේෂ විමර්ශන ඒකකය විසින් ”ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය වෙත ආනයනය කරන ලද බහාලූම් 323 ක් නිසි පරීක්ෂාවකින් තොරව ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව මඟින් නිදහස් කිරීම” සම්බන්ධව ලැබී ඇති පැමිණිල්ලකට අදාළව ප්‍රකාශයක් ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ නායක, හිටපු අමාත්‍ය විමල් වීරවංශ මහතාව අද දින එම ඒකකයට  කැඳවා තිබිණි.

ඒ අනුව ඒ මහතා අද දින අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ එම ඒකකය හමුවට ගොස් තම ප්‍රකාශය ලබාදීම සිදුකරන ලදී.

පසුව පිටතට පැමිණි විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පවසා සිටියේ බස්නාහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයාට අයත් එක්ස් ෆෝ ලංකා ආයතනයට අයත් බහාලුම් කන්ටේනර් මේ තුළ තිබූ බව තමා මාධ්‍ය හමුවක දී ප්‍රකාශ කළ බවත්, පසුව බස්නාහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා තමා එම ආයතනයත් සමග දැන් සබඳතාවක් නැති බව ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබූන ද එම ආයතනයට අයත් කන්ටේනර් කිසිවක් මෙහි නොතිබූ බවට ඔහු සඳහනක් කර නොතිබූ බවත් ය.

එමෙන්ම  රෝහණ විජේවීර චරිතාපදානය ගැන චිත්‍රපටයක් කිරීම සඳහා මුදල් යෙදවූ සහ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ පසුගිය මැතිවරණ සමයේ වේදිකා නිර්මාණය කිරීමට සම්පූර්ණයෙන් මුදල් යෙදවූ අමෙරිකාවේ දැනට වාසය කරන පුද්ගලයකුට අයත් එතනෝල් කන්ටේනර් ප්‍රමාණයක් ද මේ අතර තිබූ බවට තමන් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හමුවේ අනාවරණය කළ බවත් ඒ මහතා පවසයි.

වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න..

The MOU with India; Is the country’s foreign and defense policy truly strategic and Sri Lanka First?

July 8th, 2025

By Raj Gonsalkorale

Sri Lanka has to navigate its foreign policy within turbulent waters considering its pivotal location in the Indian ocean. Being the neighbor to India, a regional power which some consider an emerging superpower, and which shows a kind of political bi polarity, with shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels, often resulting from internal political dynamics, which in turn impacts on relationships with its neighbours. Indian investments in Sri Lanka are substantial and growing. Their concerns about their own strategic commercial interests and, security concerns are also growing on account of the interest on Sri Lanka by other players. The MOU they have signed with Sri Lanka perhaps is an indicator of their security concerns.

Being literally only a whisper away from the sea lane pathway of a country which many regard as already a superpower, China, and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s influence in Sri Lanka is certainly one irritant and a cause of worry for India.

BRI, a Chinese global infrastructure development strategy launched in 2013 which aims to connect Asia with Africa and Europe through massive investments in infrastructure projects like railways, roads, ports, and energy pipelines, has already invested in Sri Lanka. The Hambantota port project which is run by a Chinese company which has an 85% shareholding, and the Mattala airport, again built with Chinese funding. The Port city project which has granted a 99 year lease for 49 acres of land to China as compensation for reclaiming 660 acres of sea for Sri Lanka to set up its Port City (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59993386)

Secondly, the influence and interest that the US has in Sri Lanka, perhaps due to the interests that the two major rising powers India and China have on Sri Lanka, and which could impact on the US perhaps is a strategic concern for the US. It is possible that the recent renewed interest shown by US allies Australia and the UK, as well as Isreal, is perhaps a move to counter or at least exercise greater vigilance on what happens in Sri Lanka arising from Indian and Chinese interests. This perhaps is concerning for India.

The offering of 10,000 jobs for Sri Lankans in Isreal, the increasing Israeli presence in the country with tourist businesses apparently being set up with Sri Lankan partners, some say nominal partners, in order to meet legal requirements of the country regarding foreign ownership of commercial ventures, and the setting up of Chabad houses with reportedly four Chabad houses in Sri Lanka located in Colombo, Arugam Bay, Weligama, and Ella, is perhaps the establishment of a vigilance strategy at the least. The approximate number of Jewish nationals visiting the country as short term and long-term tourists is said to be around 25,000 annually, a steady increase over the last few years. Of course, the increasing presence and influence of Israel has been and continues to be of concern for many Sri Lankan Muslims, and others, who view this as a dilution of the strong and steady support Sri Lanka has always extended to the Palestinians, especially to those in Gaza who are being mercilessly persecuted by Isreal. No doubt this increasing Israeli presence and influence is a cause for concern for India as well.

In framing Sri Lanka’s foreign policy, specifically its defence policy, which is integral to foreign policy, the signing of the recent MOU with India and the atmosphere of secrecy surrounding its detail, has raised concern amongst many in Sri Lanka. The unwillingness to be open ended about the entirety of the MOU has added fuel to the fire. It appears to be a short-sighted act on the part of a government which has prided in open government.

Having said this, the MOU also has to be viewed from the context of the other interests” described above, and examine and evaluate the strategic content and direction it entails from a long term perspective. Although to the best of the writers knowledge, the Sri Lankan government has not released details of this MOU, Economy Next (https://economynext.com/) had published what it has referred to as the detailed MOU on the 15th of May 2025. This document titled Sri Lanka’s Defence Cooperation MoU with India by Shihar Aneezmay be viewed by following the link (https://economynext.com/sri-lankas-defence-cooperation-mou-with-india-220788/). Viewers are encouraged to view this document as it is an important document that potentially could have far reaching implications for Sri Lanka in the long term.  

Economy next states that It is a very detailed document with 12 articles and According to a text of the document obtained by Economy Next the nine-page defence cooperation MOU jointly signed by Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Sampath Thuyacontha and High Commissioner to India Santosh Jha contains 12 articles ranging from scope of the cooperation to termination clause.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo declined to comment on the text of the MoU and said it cannot confirm the contents of MOU between two States, as that is strictly between official authorities of the two States and is subject to mutual confidentiality”. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry also declined to comment on the contents in the MoU. But officials from both countries have indicated that the Defence Cooperation MoU has only formalized the already existing informal procedures related to the defence of both countries. The MoU has included topic such as exchange of personnel, training of defence personnel, exchanges other than training, cooperation in defence industry, technology, and research, financial arrangements, and protection of classified information among many others. It said the MoU will remain in place for five years, but both countries will have the right to terminate the MoU at any time with three months advance written notice to the other country”

While the writer is not conversant with MOUs between Sri Lanka and other countries, the extent of this MOU and its detail does raise some questions and concerns. Besides the 12 articles, there are 55 sub clauses in the document giving it perhaps the look of a document which is more than an MOU as what many understand as an MOU.  It does raise some speculation whether the many sub clauses in it gives it a flavour of a document which is more than mere understandings although article 1 of the document titled SCOPE OF COOPERATION lays the basis for the extent of cooperation between the two countries in defence related matters. This says When carrying out cooperation activities under this Memorandum of Understanding, the Parties commit themselves to respect the national and military laws and regulations of the Parties and the relevant principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, which includes sovereign equality of States, territorial integrity and inviolability, and non-intervention in the internal affairs of the Parties and that neither Party shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security of the other

The discussion on the MOU and its specifics is one thing, but its impact and implications on Sri Lanka’s foreign policy vis a vis the other interests” outlined earlier are another important matter. It is also common-sense prudence to acknowledge that India has originated and signed this MOU with Sri Lanka essentially in its own interests rather than Sri Lanka’s interests, although there are positives for Sri Lanka as well. On the one hand, a positive would be that other interested parties would get a clear message as to India’s role in Sri Lankan security and defence in the event of any overt or covert threat from any other interested party. On the other hand, relying solely on India for Sri Lanka’s defence and security, particularly as the MOU is based on the strategic vision of its current leadership, could be a negative if the political dynamics within India changes within the next five years (the duration of the current MOU), and the political interests of regional States becomes crucial when framing national priorities. Even presently and certainly in the past, the priorities of say Tamil Nadu has had, and probably still have a significant impact on relations with Sri Lanka which could have a bearing on the MOU, in particular on the Indian side.

While recognising the reality of India, it’s largeness and its economic and military power and its proximity to Sri Lanka, as well as its cultural links to Sri Lanka, it would be futile to criticise this MOU without considering several other factors that impact on the defence and security of Sri Lanka. No doubt, while the country’s foreign policy should be based on a Sri Lanka first” principle, it is easier said and done to do that considering the economically weak position the country is in, the interests that several other countries have in Sri Lanka and the advantages they entail to the country and the geopolitical considerations that the country has to consider when framing its foreign policy.  A country recovering very slowly from bankruptcy, a dysfunctional political and administrative system that is slowly attempting to recover from its mishaps including corruption at all levels, and which requires a very significant economic growth to lift it to a new economic height, and social structure realignment to ensure wealth and benefits are more equitably distributed, are factors to consider when framing its foreign policy from a more futuristic point of view where the future will be vastly different to the past and its players will not be the ones on the stage now.

Framing a Sri Lanka first foreign and defence policy will require a substantial balancing act and a cultural shift in how the country perceives its future and its relationships with the players that matter for Sri Lanka’s transformation. Past circumstances have changed and what may have been relevant and appropriate then, may not be so now as circumstances are different. However, while foreign investments are crucial for the country’s economic development, the balancing act between Sri Lanka’s long-term interests and economic interest needs to be within the framework of a strategic foreign policy which considers possible long-term consequences arising from such decisions. The following significant decisions are noted as ones that may have negative long-term consequences.

  • The MOU signed with India. Concerns expressed, leaving aside politically motivated tirades, needs to be addressed. As noted in this article, the MOU could become a double-edged sword if political circumstances change in India.
  • The decision taken in 2017 to grant a 99-year lease to China for 20 hectares of reclaimed land (49 acres), (It was a reversal of a previous decision to grant it freehold to China, but on Indian objections, it had been changed to a 99-year lease). Does the country know what China can and cannot do on this soil in the heart of Colombo? It is mentioned that the 20 hectares of land China holds within the Colombo Port City development in Sri Lanka is primarily intended for commercial and financial purposes within a designated special economic zone. China cannot use this land for military purposes as explicitly ruled out in the agreement, though there are ongoing concerns about potential future pressure on Sri Lanka to allow such use. 
  • The 99-year lease for the Hambantota port and approximately 15,000 acres of surrounding land in Sri Lanka granted to a Chinese company, China Merchants Port Holdings in 2017. This land was leased as part of a broader agreement related to the port’s development and the establishment of a special economic zone.
  • The agreement signed in 2020 by Sri Lanka and Israel to allow Israel to immediately hire 10,000 farm workers from Sri Lanka to replace 20,000 Palestinian agricultural workers who were banned from Israel and 8,000 foreign workers that fled Israel due to the war. In January 2024 the government of Sri Lanka also began talks with Israel to send an additional 20,000 Sri Lankans for jobs in the Israeli construction sector. In a multi racial country where Muslims play a significant role, the encouragement given to Israel which is an effective military super power with an ever widening reach in many countries but which has unleashed genocide in Gaza, could destabilise the social equilibrium in Sri Lanka.

Conclusion

The question to be asked is whether these decisions will be advantageous or not to Sri Lanka in the longer term, and whether future generations will have to face the consequences of the partisan decisions taken by the present generation politicians. The decision-making process related to such major issues needs scrutiny and a broader political decision-making process that brings in bi partisanship towards major foreign and defense policy decisions. In this context, while the detailed mechanics of operational aspects will have to be worked out, in principle consideration should be given to making the President the minister responsible for foreign policy and defense and including the Opposition leader in these areas for key policy decision making processes. Additionally, a parliamentary oversight committee comprising all parties represented in Parliament introduced to undertake oversight on behalf of the people of the country. It would be in the long-term interest of Sri Lanka for major such decision to be bi partisan exercises that would provide a greater degree of comfort and assurance to future generations that short term gain without considering long term consequences will be minimized.

The tenor and substance of such policy decisions have to be above partisan politics for the good of the country, and this would be the context for a Sri Lanka first policy on foreign affairs and defense. Key commercial decisions must be taken within such a broad framework as they have the potential to cause more harm than good in the longer term. The competing interests of key players who are important for Sri Lanka’s economic and social revival also require consideration and a strategic balancing act undertaken to ensure Sri Lanka does not end up as the loser in the longer term. Politics is far more sophisticated than it was in the past, and the political culture in the country and amongst politicians needs to change if it is to move up the ladder of economic strength and social equity and equality, and its security, assured through more collective decision making processes.

No MoU can divide the Buddha Sasana: Resisting India’s 2030 Strategic takeover of Sri Lanka

July 8th, 2025

Shenali D Waduge

We never thought a pen could undo what our war heroes achieved in May 2009. Yet, since December 2024, secret MoUs signed between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have begun dismantling Sri Lanka’s territorial and constitutional sovereignty—not with tanks, but through contracts. These agreements encroach upon lands and institutions constitutionally mandated to protect the Buddha Sasana — the island’s spiritual existence for over 2,300 years. The Buddha Sasana has been the foundation of peace, non-violence, and unity among communities. To weaken it is to weaken Sri Lanka itself.

Buddhist Jurisprudence remains an ancient System of Governance that cannot be replaced or erased.

Buddhist jurisprudence is not merely religious law” but civilizational law.

  • Vinaya guides monks, and Dasa Raja Dharma (Ten Duties of a Righteous King) guided rulers—this ethical framework long predates modern constitutions.
  • Historically, the Sasana managed land, education, health, and local disputes through a decentralized, moral system.
  • The Buddha Sasana governed justly through kings, colonialism, and into the modern state—it must remain the oldest law of the land.

Global Buddhist Solidarity

Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution is not exclusivist; under Buddhist kings, Hindus, Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully—without forced conversions or religious wars—because Buddhist principles foster compassion and tolerance, protecting everyone’s religious rights.

Defending Buddhist heritage means defending freedom from foreign control.

Sri Lanka, the oldest unbroken Buddhist nation, faces a critical test: if it falls to strategic colonization, the future of Buddhist heritage worldwide is also at risk.

Constitutional Protections

Article 9 states:

The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana.”
This is a binding obligation, not symbolic.

The Supreme Court, in rulings on the Thirteenth Amendment and Provincial Councils Bill (1987), upheld that the state’s unitary character and Buddhism’s foremost place cannot be diluted.

The Temple Lands Ordinance (1931) and Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance (1931) protect temple lands under Article 16.

Even colonial rulers respected the spiritual independence of the Sasana. No President today can override that authority.

State actions—including secret or unratified executive agreements—must not violate constitutional protections.

Yet secret deals handing over infrastructure, data, ports, religious sites, mineral resources, and coastal areas to foreign powers without public scrutiny violate Article 3’s principle that sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable.”

India’s encroachment: Signed, Sealed, and Dangerous

As detailed in the recent article SOLD: How AKD’s India Deals are Dismantling Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty – Countdown to a 2030 Takeover”https://www.shenaliwaduge.com/sold-how-akds-india-deals-are-dismantling-sri-lankas-sovereignty-countdown-to-a-2030-takeover

Sri Lanka is being systematically bridged to Indian strategic, economic, and digital interests while granting India immunity from prosecution.

If you doubted such an eventuality unfolding – piece these dots together:

Defence and Foreign Policy:

  • A 5-year secret MoU on defence with India, whose contents remain undisclosed, but reportedly restrict Sri Lanka’s ability to engage militarily with other nations, especially China.
  • Sri Lanka joins the Colombo Security Conclave, aligning its maritime surveillance and naval strategy with India — effectively subordinating its neutrality.

Energy & Resources:

  • A Trincomalee Energy Hub is being developed with Indian and UAE partnership, transferring critical energy infrastructure to foreign hands. This recalls the landmark Supreme Court ruling when a US-Japanese company attempted to take off with Sri Lanka’s phosphate & Justice Amarasinghe clearly stated the Govt’s role is only that of a temporary custodian & that resources of Sri Lanka belong not only to this generation but future generations as well.
  • Justice Mark Fernando in Environmental Foundation Ltd. v. Mahaweli Authority(1993) reaffirmed that natural resources are held in trust by the State for the people, and cannot be alienated arbitrarily. This reinforces the public trustee principle — government is a caretaker, not an owner.
  • India gains access to offshore wind, solar, and mineral extraction, bypassing Parliament — including phosphate and ilmenite vital to future-tech manufacturing.

Culture and Regional Fragmentation:

  • Indian-backed Ramayana Trails, temple restorations, kovil funding, and scholarships disproportionately target the North, East, and Central Provinces — subtly eroding national cohesion & usurping the Buddhist ethos while a systematic effort to chase away Buddhist theroes from these areas & destroy historic Buddhist archaeological sites is taking place.
  • Ferry services between Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai risk demographic manipulation through irregular migration and soft settlement.

Digital Colonialism:

  • National systems like SL-UDI (being developed using MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform), GovPay (reportedly being aligned with the architecture of India’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface)., and DigiLocker are built on Indian digital infrastructure.
  • India may gain access to Sri Lankans’ biometric, financial, and personal data — an externalization of national identity – nowhere in the world has such a scenario happened.

Strategic Assets:

  • In May 2025, Colombo Dockyard signed a naval manufacturing and repair MoU with India’s Mazagon Dock Ltd — placing India inside Sri Lanka’s western defence-industrial corridor. India is also running Colombo West Terminal & is likely to align with John Keells Holdings to renew lease for SAGT while also controlling major transshipment arriving at the Jeya Container Terminal – taken together India can easily prevent inflow of goods if it so wishes as was done to Nepal during the economic embargo.

Other MoUs Violate the Buddha Sasana Doctrine

Sri Lanka’s sovereignty is threatened not only by India. MoUs with other nations also raise serious concerns:

  • United States – MCC Compact: Though politically paused, land digitization and parcel valuation projects began without public consent, violating the indivisibility of Sasana land.
  • Japan – Light Rail Transit MoU (Colombo): The project threatens Buddhist temples and heritage sites, with planned relocations and disturbances made without religious consultation.
  • China – Hambantota Port Lease (2017): While defensive in intent, the lease has created perceptions of foreign enclaves, raising fears about long-term sovereignty and access to nearby Buddhist heritage zones.
  • Singapore – Trade & Education MoUs: Full access to Sri Lanka’s data and education policy reforms by foreign consultants undermine the Buddha Sasana’s role in guiding ethical and cultural education.

Globally, courts have intervened to protect sovereignty in such cases.

In People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (Aadhaar case), the Indian Supreme Court ruled that privacy and consent are intrinsic to dignity — a precedent relevant to Sri Lanka’s concerns about data outsourcing.

Similarly, the Singapore Court of Appeal in Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program v. Independent State of Papua New Guinea (2020) upheld protections against arbitrary expropriation, confirming the need to safeguard national assets even across borders.

Ironically, India has itself resisted foreign encroachment on its digital and territorial sovereignty, banning Chinese apps in 2020 citing data sovereignty,” and opposing OBOR over territorial integrity. If these principles apply to India, they must equally apply to Sri Lanka. Sovereignty is not selective.

The ICJ’s 2010 Advisory Opinion on Kosovo reaffirmed the right of peoples to maintain their cultural and historical integrity — a principle Sri Lanka must uphold.

Article 9 states:

The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana.”

This is a binding obligation, not symbolic.

The Supreme Court, in rulings on the Thirteenth Amendment and Provincial Councils Bill (1987), upheld that the state’s unitary character and Buddhism’s foremost place cannot be diluted.

The Temple Lands Ordinance (1931) and Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance (1931) protect temple lands under Article 16.

Even colonial rulers respected the spiritual independence of the Sasana. No President today can override that authority.

State actions—including secret or unratified executive agreements—must not violate constitutional protections.

Yet secret deals handing over infrastructure, data, ports, religious sites, mineral resources, and coastal areas to foreign powers without public scrutiny violate Article 3’s principle that sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable.”

Sri Lanka is at a historic crossroads.

Sri Lanka is not only battling for territorial & political sovereignty but the continuance of its civilizational spiritual heritage. How far custodians of the Nation cherish this & how far they are compromising this heritage by signing MOUs & secret deals cannot be ignored further. While we question the intentions of foreign players, our criticism must first be directed at the temporary custodians from those in the public sector to the higher echelons of leadership & question their actions ceding the nation, its resources & assets, its people & its Buddha Sasana heritage.

Let this be our solemn vow: no MoU, no foreign power, no local custodians shall divide or diminish the Buddha Sasana. The spiritual heart of Sri Lanka will remain indivisible, inviolable, and eternally sovereign.

Shenali D Waduge

NDB Bank Partners with World Vision to Empower Women-Headed Households through Sustainable Farming and Financial Inclusion

July 8th, 2025

National Development Bank PLC

In a significant step toward fostering community resilience and inclusive development, NDB Bank has partnered with World Vision to implement a targeted initiative aimed at uplifting women-headed households through integrated farming solutions and financial empowerment.

Formalized through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), this partnership will directly support 10 women-headed households in Kilinochchi District, with a particular focus on those facing livelihood insecurity and limited access to financial services. Through a combination of climate-resilient home gardening, small-scale livestock rearing, and essential financial literacy training, the initiative seeks to promote sustainable income generation, improved nutrition, and long-term financial independence.

Under the programme, World Vision will facilitate delivering of agri-based technical assistance and input support, including seeds, plants, livestock, and tools, alongside structured training to equip participants with practical knowledge in home-based cultivation and animal husbandry. NDB Bank, in turn, will play a critical role in enabling financial access, by conducting financial literacy sessions, facilitating account openings, and supporting the long-term financial management of the participating households.

Commenting on the partnership, Lasantha Dassanayaka, the Head of NDB Bank’s Corporate Sustainability Committee, At NDB, we believe that building a resilient nation begins with empowering families at the grassroots. This partnership with World Vision aligns with our broader sustainability agenda, by bringing together food security, financial inclusion, and dignified livelihood opportunities for some of Sri Lanka’s most underserved communities.”

Dr. Dhanan Senathirajah, National Director of World Vision Lanka, also shared his views on the partnership saying, All of World Vision’s work has just one focus – the sustained wellbeing of the most vulnerable children. We can achieve only a part of it if we don’t empower their parents and caregivers with stable livelihoods and financial literacy. We greatly value this partnership with NDB which can multiply the impact and we are excited for the transformation it can bring”.

Through this collaborative effort, beneficiaries will not only gain the tools to generate sustainable income from their home gardens and livestock units but also be integrated into the formal banking system, giving them the foundation to grow their savings, access credit when needed, and plan for the future with greater confidence.

As women continue to play a growing role in driving household resilience and local economies, this initiative reflects NDB Bank’s ongoing commitment to fostering inclusive progress—particularly by equipping women with tools to lead in both livelihood creation and financial decision-making. By integrating practical skills with banking access, the project offers a foundation for long-term empowerment and growth.

As the initiative progresses, NDB Bank and World Vision will work jointly to monitor outcomes, provide follow-up support, and explore opportunities to scale the model further across other regions.

Over 3,800 red notices issued during Mosquito Control Week

July 8th, 2025

Courtesy Adaderana

A total of 144,250 premises have been inspected island-wide during the National Mosquito Control Week implemented last week, the Media Spokesperson of the National Dengue Control Unit of the Ministry of Health, Community Medical Specialist Dr. Prasheela Samaraweera, said.

Speaking at a press conference today (08) to announce the progress of the activities conducted during National Mosquito Control Week, she explained that 35,495 sites were identified as possible mosquito breeding grounds.

Furthermore, Dr. Samaraweera stated that 4,275 premises with mosquito larvae were detected, adding that 3,812 red notices were issued and legal actions has been initiated against 982 premises.

She also noted that schools, government offices, factories, workplaces, and religious sites were among the locations identified as high-risk.

Inspections were carried out at 400 schools, with 226 found to have potential mosquito breeding sites.

The Community Medical Specialist further mentioned that 131,789 homes were inspected, and 31,967 were identified as having potential mosquito breeding sites. 

Additionally, 955 government institutions were inspected, and 292 were identified as potential breeding grounds for mosquito larvae.

Meanwhile, 30,228 dengue cases and 16 related deaths have been reported island-wide, with most cases coming from the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, and Eastern provinces, Dr. Prasheela Samaraweera said.


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