A senior minister in Sri Lanka’s government dismissed allowing an international investigation into mass atrocities.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said there was no possibility of “an international inquiry”.

“That would amount to an unsolicited intervention and a violation of our sovereignty,” the minister told Anadolu Agency, insisting Sri Lanka was “committed to investigate any rights abuses through a domestic process".

Mr Rajapakshe blamed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for the current OHCHR Investigaion in Sri Lanka.

“It is a fate of his own seeking. President Rajapaksa has written to the U.N. Secretary-General, just four days after the conclusion of the war. It was only after that a U.N. expert committee was appointed to study whether such rights violations had taken place during the final phase of the war. President Rajapaksa has created this situation, not the U.N. and not anyone else, and now it has become a sticky issue,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s state minister of defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, assured troops on Friday that army camps will not be dismantled and soldiers will not be withdrawn from the north of the island.

Speaking to soldiers at the Security Force Headquarters – Jaffna during his visit to the North-East, the minister said there will be no change in policy, “under any circumstances”.

“National security will remain the priority of our government and there is no change in that policy under any circumstances. I say this with responsibility. Members of the armed forces should not believe in unfounded rumours and various fabricated stories in relation to security concerns. I assure you that the government would not remove any army formations in the peninsula, nor does the government plan to scale down security arrangements”, he said.

Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena will visit China in March, announced China’s Special Representative of the Chinese President and assistant Foreign Minister, Liu Jianchao, after a meeting with Sirisena in Colombo.

Mr Jianchoa, currently on a two day official visit to Sri Lanka, delivered a congratulatory message to the new Sri Lankan president and welcomed the new government’s decision to continue with the ‘Port City’ development project, reports Colombo Page.

The Sri Lankan government announced on Thursday that the Chinese-run Port City project will continue, after a cabinet meeting on the issue.

The project was reviewed by the new government along with several others initiated by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

State-owned China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) had defended the project, saying all procedures of the procurement regulations were followed before the deal was signed with the previous government.

Sri Lanka’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, in a message to mark Chinese new year on Wednesday, pledged to “deepen strategic cooperation” with the Chinese government, reports Xinhua.

In his address, Sirisena said,

“Looking back at 2014, I am pleased that the historic state visit to Sri Lanka of Chinese President Xi Jinping in September last year has provided us with the opportunity to further evaluate our robust relationship and deepen the strategic cooperative partnership in a manner beneficial to our two countries peoples.”

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sri Lanka on its independence day and said he looked forward to welcoming President Maithripala Sirisena later this month.

"On their Independence Day, my greetings to people of Sri Lanka. The bonds of history, culture and shared values that we share are unbreakable,” the prime minister tweeted.

"My best wishes for the development of Sri Lanka in the years to come. I look forward to welcoming President Sirisena later this month."

A senior commander of Sri Lanka’s armed forces, Shavendra Silva, who is thought to be responsible for committing mass atrocities, has been accepted to study at India’s National Defence College (NDC) in Dheli, reports jdslanka.