Sri Lanka

Devastating floods have placed a third of the country underwater, underscoring significant climate risks in South Asia.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government will soon start negotiating debt restructuring with countries that provide loans to Sri Lanka.

The Indian and Chinese diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka sparred on social media over the visit of a Chinese military research vessel to the island nation.

Sri Lanka’s refusal to codify trade relations with India speaks to a consistent policy of strategic ambiguity.

Establishing rules of the aid game and channels of communication might prevent a repeat of the current crisis, in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

If passed into law, the amendments would reinstate democratic reforms made in 2015 and then reversed in 2020 under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe said the government's aim is to create a surplus in the primary budget by the year 2025 and to bring down public debt.

If the northeast Indian Ocean is of strategic interest to Australia, then the current economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka ought to be a pressing concern for Canberra. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised to step down, while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.

One member of the Sri Lankan diaspora reflects on the agony of watching his motherland lurch from crisis to crisis. 

The president's selection of Wickremesinghe a five-time former prime minister, is an attempt to end the violence and restore international credibility.