Sri Lankan MP and Leader of the Democratic Left Front Vasudeva Nanayakkara called for India to be taken before an international tribunal, over the issue of Indian fishermen poaching in “Sri Lankan waters”, as Tamil Nadu's chief minister called for a "strong and sustained diplomatic initiative" from the Indian prime miniser.

"We must take the case before the International Tribunal under the Law of the Sea Convention,” said Mr Nanayakkara. “The continuous violation of International Admiralty Law or the guidelines set by the International Maritime Courts is an international issue.”

“The attempts at the bilateral level failed to find solutions," he added.

His comments come as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jaylalithaa wrote again to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “it is time the issue is taken up not only through the normal diplomatic channels, but at an appropriately high political level and the release of the fishermen and the boats secured without further delay”.

"We are still awaiting the much anticipated strong and sustained diplomatic initiative to resolve the vexatious issue," she said.

The Sri Lankan government announced that it will scrap a long running presidential commission on missing persons and replace it with another commission.

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who is also minister for the Buddha Sasana, announced the abolition of the commission but said “we will not abandon its procedure”. Admitting that “even locally, most of the people are not happy with the Commission and they have no faith in its process” he added the government “will go ahead with a commission which will be more effective.”

So far two interim reports have been submitted from the commission to the government, but have yet to be released publically.

The chair of the commission, Justice Maxwell Paranagama, rejected criticism of the mechanism, stating that no one could do the job better. He had earlier spoken out against the UN Panel of Experts' estimated death toll of 40,000 Tamil civilians at the end of the armed conflict in 2009.

Mr Rajapakshe also said the Sri Lankan government is also “considering” the repeal of the Prevention of the Terrorism Act (PTA).

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested the former Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, also known as Pillayan, over the killing of TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham.

Pillayan was arrested whilst making a statement on the killing of the former TNA MP, reports Colombo Page.

The Sri Lankan army is ready to defend the nation at all times said the army's Commander Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva on Saturday, addressing the 66th Army Day.

Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said in his address that “Sri Lankan soldiers are admired world over for their display of humanity, discipline, professionalism and integrity”. “These attributes will without doubt enable us to be more efficient when we embark on increasing our participation in UN.”

“I urge all members of the Army to remain steadfastly loyal to the nation,” he added.

The British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said there remains “much to be done” in Sri Lanka after a resolution was passed at the UN Human Rights Council, mandating an accountability mechanism for violations of international humanitarian law committed during the armed conflict.

“I’m hopeful that the next stage of this process will be accompanied by further progress on some of the other commitments President Sirisena has made – from demilitarisation, to anti-corruption work, to the release of political prisoners, to reducing tensions between communities and disengaging the military from commercial activities,” said Hugo Swire, in a blog post earlier this week.

“There is much to be done, and we in the UK are keen to offer support wherever we can. We’ll be discussing this with the Sri Lankan government in the coming weeks.”