Columns
Home » ColumnsHigher manufactured exports improve economic growth prospects
The better performance of the country’s exports in the first two months of this year has led to an expectation that the economy would do well. Although both agricultural and manufactured exports increased in the first two months of this year, it is the growth in manufactured exports that is noteworthy, as it could have [...]
A fractured Sri Lankan identity five years on
This week, the five year anniversary on the 2009 victory of Sri Lankan troops over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is to be held in Matara, located in the deep South and in the perceived Sinhala heartland of this Presidency. I used the term ‘perceived’ quite deliberately as the assumption that all is [...]
China-Vietnam conflict and Sri Lanka’s diplomatic dilemma
As the tensions between Vietnam and China erupt in violence over their dispute in the South China Sea, Sri Lanka will have to walk a diplomatic tightrope with two Asian friends with whom it enjoys traditionally cordial relations. Vietnamese anger turned deadly on Thursday as anti-Chinese riots broke out in an industrial zone in south [...]
Wrong translation of PM’s speech in Hanoi causes diplomatic row
When a Sri Lankan dignitary like the President or the Prime Minister visits another country on an official tour, it is customary that he or she is accompanied by an official or more from the External Affairs Ministry (EAM). That is a tradition that had been practised for years, but is no longer done today. [...]
Despite rejection, Govt. works out strategy to face UN probe
The Government is engaged in a number of informal diplomatic initiatives to counter accusations against Sri Lanka, particularly when the UN Human Rights Council’s international investigation into alleged war crimes gets under way. The move is notwithstanding the official position that no such investigation would be recognised nor would those conducting it be allowed to [...]
Making amends with Modi’s India
My Dear Narendra Modi, I am writing to congratulate you on your victory at the Indian elections, where they tell me that you have broken many records and emerged with a government where your party alone will have control of Parliament because you have an absolute majority. This is of course good news for us in [...]
No, Mr. Minister, women cannot wait for the next Buddha
When the Buddha was asked by his chief disciple the Venerable Ananda whether a woman could attain enlightenment, the Buddha’s reply was a definite yes. Thus emboldened by the Buddha’s unequivocal answer that both genders possessed the same potential to become Arahaths and that the Savaka-Bodhi status of arahathship was not the exclusive preserve of [...]