The prime minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe this week pledged an economic pact with India would be in force by the end of this year. 

Mr Wickremesinghe, who is currently on a three-day visit to New Delhi, met with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi and the country's president. 

The spokesperson of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), M A Sumanthiran rebuffed criticims of the secrecy surrounding constitutional talks, saying, "there are reasons for the silence we keep". 

"We have the belief that our people would trust us. When the interim report is released, everything will be revealed. Until then, people should keep faith," he said at the weekend, speaking at an event in Karavetty. 

In a cryptic message, Mr Sumanthiran added: 

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) said that it appears that the Tamil people of the North-East are being left out of transitional justice processes, and not meaningfully consulted, at a press conference in Jaffna on Thursday, adding that this was also the case for the constitutional process.

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) said that it appears that the Tamil people of the North-East are being left out of transitional justice processes, and not meaningfully consulted, at a press conference in Jaffna on Thursday, adding that this was also the case for the constitutional process.

The Sri Lankan army marked International Children’s Day on Saturday, by taking a group of Tamil schoolchildren on a tour of a military base in Jaffna earlier this month.

The threatening of a journalist inside a Sri Lankan police station on September 27, has been condemned by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), who urged authorities to investigate the incident. 

The journalist with Hiru TV, Ranjith Karunaweera was summoned by Sri Lankan police to Hasalaka station where he was met with over 20 local sand miners who threatened to kill him and used abusive language, the IFJ reported. 

The former Sri Lankan navy chief was on Wednesday summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over abductions that are believed to have taken place during his time in the job, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The abductions are reported to have taken place between 2006 - 2008 and included the disappearance of 11 people in 2008, the paper added. 

Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday held discussions with India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj as part of his three day visit to New Delhi. 

Mr Wickremesinghe is also expected to meet with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi and the president, Pranab Mukherjee. 

The World Bank lowered Sri Lanka’s 2017 growth forecast from 5.3% to 5.0%  due to high fiscal deficit and an elevated public debt.

The report update added that one of the factors behind the grown remaining unchanged in 2016 was due to the postponement of Foreign Direct Investment by the government.

Meeting with Switzerland's minister of justice, Simonetta Sommaruga on Monday in Jaffna, the chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council CV Wigneswaran stressed the need for an end to the discrimination against Tamils and expressed doubt over whether in the context of continued ethnic discrimination, the proposed constitution would benefit the Tamils within the present context. 
 

The Sri Lankan government acknowledged it will pay $170 million for the cancellation of an aircraft leasing contract, signed under the previous government.

Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told Reuters that Colombo will pay AerCap Holdings NV (AER.N) the fee, as the government continues to try and save its failing national airlines. 

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in New Delhi this week, where he was scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officials.

Mr Wickremesinghe met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and is also scheduled to meet with Road Transport and Highways & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.