Sri Lanka

Among the artifacts is the Cannon of Kandy, a ceremonial weapon made of bronze, silver and gold and inlaid with rubies.

Sri Lanka’s 2022 crisis highlighted the potential for India to play an expanded economic role in the region, especially given China’s inaction.

Cricketers enjoy prestige and popularity. Their connections to the political and business elite enable them to get away easily even with sexual assault.

In addition to long-time player India, China’s Sinopec has also acquired rights to operate in the island’s retail market.

Labor reforms are touted as a panacea for economic woes but they essentially aim at facilitating dismissal of workers.

The Sri Lankan president finds himself in a unique situation that allows him to implement IMF recommendations in full, a fact that the IMF wouldn’t have missed.

The 25-year contract with the petroleum giant is expected to ease the fuel shortage in the country.

Several Chinese delegations have traveled to Sri Lanka in recent months and Chinese investments could spike, prompting alarmist reporting in the Indian media.

If torture is to be eradicated in Sri Lanka the institutions of the magistrate and police need to be reformed.

China Merchant Port Holding Company (CMPH), which already has a dominant presence in Sri Lankan harbors, will be setting up a warehousing hub in Colombo port.  

The government is arming itself with a law to crush mass protests and strikes aimed at opposing its economic policies and IMF austerity measures.

Speculation is rife over supposedly China-constructed facilities on Myanmar’s Coco Island that could be put to Chinese military use “when required.”

Damage to crops can be minimized by preventing the destruction of forests, experts say.   

The primary demand of the 2022 protests – the removal of Gotabaya Rajapaksa from his role as president – has been achieved, but the secondary demand of “system change” has not.

Involving the military in tackling public health crises is an efficient use of state capacity, but does it signal excessive militarization of society?

One year after the protests that ousted Sri Lanka’s president and government, reforms remain elusive and the national crisis is far from over.

But is the governance diagnostic exercise just another tool to legitimize its austerity measures?

The IMF’s $2.9 billion EFF program lays out major structural reforms required to restore long-term macroeconomic stability in Sri Lanka. 

The country has the dubious distinction of being the first Asian country to face scrutiny for corruption as part of a bailout program.

The government says it was compelled to raise taxes to strengthen state revenue, a key prerequisite to unlocking the $2.9 billion IMF package.

Notwithstanding the merits of nuclear power from a clean energy perspective, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s plan may face public opposition due to cost and safety issues.

Sri Lanka hosted two high-level delegations from the U.S. in February – including one that opposition parties say was cover for a secret mission by the head of the CIA.

With Beijing extending debt restructuring assurances, the last obstacle in the way of Sri Lanka securing the bailout deal has been removed.

Plans to develop the port in eastern Sri Lanka have repeatedly stalled out, due to a variety of internal and external factors.