Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will offer worship at the Lord Venkateswara temple near Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, after landing in Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

The Prime Minister, along with his wife and officials will arrive in India on December 21st. His last visit to the temple was in his capacity as Prime Minister in 2002.

Security has reportedly been tightened around the area, with the prime minister set to visit the temple. Mr Wickremesinghe is scheduled to fly back to Chennai later on Thursday, before travelling back to Colombo.

Photograph: BBC Sinhala

Sri Lanka’s justice minister met with Buddhist monks from the extremist Bodu Bala Sena organisations in Batticaloa on Wednesday.
 

A renewed amnesty by the Sri Lankan army has led to more than 3,000 deserting soldiers returning and obtaining legal discharge, reports the Ministry of Defence.

The amnesty, which was declared on the 1st of December, has seen the reporting of 3 officers and 2983 soldiers of the army, 1 officer and 256 sailors of the navy and 7 officers and 113 airmen, in less than three weeks. The amnesty period will last until the end of this month.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that his government would not be removing any military camps from the North-East, as he lashed out at the media during a speech in Malaysia.

Mr Sirisena told a group of Buddhist monks in Kuala Lumpur that “government is not trying to divide the country or remove army camps from the North,” according to The Island.

Starting in 2017, January 8th to 14th will be recognized as National Integration and Reconciliation Week. The week will be implemented with “the view of improving peace, harmony and fraternity among people and to implement various programmes in all schools, media, public and private institutions demonstrating the importance of national integration, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers,” states the government website.

The Japanese government is to provide a naval craft and training to Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The announcement came as the Japanese vice minister of defence, Hiroyuki Miyazawa visited the island, attending the 'Japan-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Dialogue 2016' in Colombo. 

"Japan would extend its fullest support to boost defence cooperation between both countries and to strengthen maritime security of Sri Lanka," Mr Miyazawa reportedly added. 

The chief minister of the Northern province, C V Wigneswaran on Monday called on the government to implement pledges it had made to the Tamil people without delay. 

“The government should implement without delay the pledges made regarding the Tamil people while entering into pacts,” Mr Wigneswaran said at a press briefing held outside the Jaffna library. 

Highlighting former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's pledge to Ban Ki Moon that he would ensure the welfare of the Tamil people, Mr Wigneswaran said, "It is good to examine whether the present government has honoured these pledges."

Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Tuesday called on Indian Prime Minister Norendal Modi to send a “firm, clear and unambiguous message” to the Sri Lankan government following further arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.

"A firm, clear and unambiguous message should be sent out by the Centre to Lanka to ensure that this trend needs to be reversed and that the Centre is firmly committed to protect the livelihood of the poor and innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu engaged in fishing in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay," said Mr Panneerselvam.

The commander of Sri Lanka’s air force visited India this week, becoming the first official in his position to officiate over a commissioning parade of the Indian Air Force.

The Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF) 2017 is to be held from January 27th to the 29th, for the 8th consecutive year.

Named “Gateway to the North,” the trade fair is widely attended by all stakeholders in the supply chain and procurement process, and will comprise of both local and international vendors.

A 75-member special delegation from India will also be attending the event, with the Consulate General of India in Jaffna endorsing it.