Sri Lanka’s Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has once again pledged to defend Buddhism as central to the island’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, underscoring his alignment with Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.

Speaking at the Sri Vipashyarama Purana Viharaya in Maharagama on 13 September, Premadasa declared,

Marking the fourth day of Lt. Col. Thileepan's hunger strike, residents paid their respects at his memorial in Nallur, Jaffna this morning. 

Thileepan fasted unto death in September 1987, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour their pledges to the Tamil people. 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Sujeewa Senasinghe has been forced to retract a letter convening the inaugural meeting of a proposed Sri Lanka–Israel Parliamentary Friendship Association, after admitting it was issued “in error.”

The notice, dated 4 September, had invited MPs to attend the launch of the association on 12 September at Parliament. However, in a statement, Senasinghe acknowledged the move had been a “genuine mistake.”

Sri Lanka has recorded the highest number of attacks on Indian nationals abroad since 2022, according to official data presented in the Indian Parliament by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The figures, which track reported assaults and incidents across 45 countries, place Sri Lanka far ahead of other nations, with 66 attacks on Indians documented between 2022 and 2025. By comparison, the United States recorded 34 incidents over the same period, the United Kingdom 19, and Canada 19.

The United States concluded “Exercise Pacific Angel – 2025” in Sri Lanka last week, further entrenching military cooperation with Colombo despite ongoing allegations of war crimes and genocide by Sri Lankan security forces.

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has admitted that members of parliament and cabinet are directly linked to underworld figures running the island’s sprawling criminal and drug networks.