Joint exercises by Sri Lanka's and India's navies commenced off the coast of Trincomalee today.

Six naval ships and six fast attack boats from the Sri Lankan navy, alongside three ships of the Indian Navy are taking part in this year’s joint training, which will carry on until November 1.

The recent findings of two inquiry commissions in Sri Lanka underscore the need for a formal process to investigate and prosecute those responsible for grave crimes during the armed conflict that spanned three decades.

The submission of the reports in Parliament should be welcomed, although it could also be interpreted as a signal to the international community that the domestic mechanisms are strong enough. The Maxwell Paranagama Commission, mandated to probe cases of missing persons and allegations of war crimes, has established that there were significant civilian casualties caused by Sri Lankan Army shelling in 2009 and that there may have been many individual acts of war crimes.

The three-member Commission has, however, mainly blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the civilian deaths, noting that it used civilians as human shields, placed weaponry in their midst and prevented them from leaving war zones.

The Tamil Nadu government says Sri Lanka has agreed to release 86 fishermen from the state, all arrested by the country's navy over the past two months.

"The Union government was informed that Sri Lanka would release 86 fishermen (hailing from Tamil Nadu) on October 28," an official release said.

The release of fishermen was the outcome of Jayalalithaa's "continuous efforts", the press release further said.

The fishermen, hailing from the Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram districts, were arrested and kept in jails in Sri Lanka between September 22 and October 14 this year.

Sri Lankan’s Minister of Law and Order and Prison Reforms refused to grant any pardons to Tamil political prisoners held in jails across the island, following protests against their continued detention last week.

“There is nothing called amnesty,” said Thilak Janaka Marapona. “We will look at case by case and if we see that they have been held in custody for a long time without proper evidence or a case, then they will be released,” he said.

India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y. K. Sinha said he was surprised by opposition to Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two governments, stating there was no empirical basis for its rejection.

“They state a large number of Indians would come to Sri Lanka including barbers, lawyers and professors even and that they would take over Sri Lanka... These claims are amusing and completely untrue,” said the High Commissioner at the Annual Research Symposium 2015 held in Colombo.

“What surprises me the most is that there is no empirical research to lay the proper facts before the people here,” he added.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena pledged to protect the country’s military, stating that he “will not allow anyone to degrade the armed forces in any way”.

Addressing the unveiling of a “War Hero Monument” at Panagoda on Monday, Mr Sirisena declared:

“I will not let the quality and standards of the Armed Forces deteriorate in any way, nor would I allow any forces to degrade the image of the hard-earned dignity of the Sri Lankan armed forces”.

Referring to his willingness to increase the number of Sri Lankan troops participating in UN peacekeeping missions, the president added:

“The world has recognized your services, and the UN positively responded to my request for allocation of more and more openings for our servicemen to serve in peace-keeping contingents. They would certainly assist us”.

“Despite various criticisms, in front of  this Monument, I assure you that our armed forces would not in any way be weakened, nor it be subjected to any degradation under me,” added Mr Sirisena.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe criticised Mahinda Rajapaksa for reported attempts to facilitate the surrender of LTTE officials, who were subsequently executed by Sri Lankan troops.

"Who wanted to save Pulidevan?” questioned Mr Wickremesinghe in parliament on Friday.
"I do not shed any tears for Pulidevan,” he added. “If not for him, Rajapaksa would not have been able to take power. It is by trying to save Pulidevan that the country is now facing this white flag crisis.”

LTTE Chief Peace Secretariat Pulidevan, political wing leader B Nadesan and other senior LTTE officials were gunned down by Sri Lankan troops whilst attempting to surrender on the morning of 18 May 2009. The incident, since dubbed the “white flag” killings, has been described in detail by reports and eye witnesses.

"Why did the regime want to save Pulidevan?” said the prime minister on Friday. “I don't like people being killed, but Pulidevan is a man whose actions put the Tamil community in jeopardy,” he added. "Instead of leaving battle field decisions to field commanders, the then government tried to interfere. They were negotiating a surrender… If it was not a surrender that was negotiated, we won't be facing this problem today."

The prime minister also implicated the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the assassination of former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. 

"There is a connection between the Kadirgamar assassination and the presidential election," Mr Wickremesinghe said. “The Kadirgamar assassination must be thoroughly probed and all this will come out.”