A Chinese embassy official said that a stable and peaceful Sri Lanka was to India’s advantage and that the country can gain a lot from its southern neighbour, reported Colombo Gazette.

Speaking at an event in Colombo, Ren Faqiang said that India was one of the first countries to make use of the Chinese funded Hambantota port and that Sri Lanka was now more like a developed country due to the many infrastructure project funded by the Chinese.

Photo: @AiyoMalli

The paramilitary leader and Minister Douglas Devananda represented the Sri Lankan government at an event to celebrate the US independence day at an event in Colombo.

The South African Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, Cyril Ramaphosa, is due to visit the island next week for talks with the government and other groups, to discuss a political solution for the “Northeast problem” a senior government source told the Daily Mirror.

Several parties in the ruling coalition expressed their opposition to the visit.

“No positive results would be brought from a South African model peace initiative as the issues in Sri Lanka and South Africa are totally different. Besides, South Africa cannot win the confidence of the people in Sri Lanka as that country maintained a close link with the LTTE. Therefore, it concerns only on the grievances of minorities,” said spokesperson for the JHU Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe.

More skeletal remains have been found in Muhamaalai on Thursday, a day after remains and clothing of female LTTE fighters were unearthed by a demining team, reported the Uthayan.

Bones, grenades and bullet casings were found in the town on the Jaffna peninsula, which used to be a major checkpoint to enter territory under Tamil control before 2009.

10:17 BST

153 Tamil asylum seekers on a boat off Christmas island will be handed over to the Sri Lankan navy, a second senior navy official confirmed to The Australian on Wednesday.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that such a transfer in the mid-ocean was imminent, however, till now both the Australian government and the Sri Lankan navy have refused to acknowledge even the very presence of such a boat.

The transfer of the asylum seekers has been widely condemned with many rights organisations warning that Australia would be in breach of the UN Convention on Refugees if it were to proceed with such a move.