Despite the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar accompanied by a high-level team from the Indian Oil Corporation over the weekend, differences between the Lanka IOC (LIOC) and the government of Sri Lanka over the Trincomalee oil storage tanks persist,the New Indian Express reported today. Sources told Express on Tuesday that the basic   

Because of the war in North-East Sri Lanka, LIOC and CPC could not develop the tanks as desired though the LIOC, PRIMA and the Sri Lanka Air Force were using some. The LIOC had renovated 15 of the 99 tanks at a cost of US$ 15 million and was ready to invest US$ 17 more for further refurbishment. The PRIMA wheat company and the Air Force were using four. The end of the war in 2009 did not being any relief as relations between India and the Mahinda Rajapaksa government deteriorated over the Tamil issue. In 2013, India abstained from supporting Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not attend the Commonwealth summit held in Colombo.

Given the downturn in relations, the Rajapaksa government unofficially said in 2013, that it might ask the LIOC to quit because the original agreement was not entered into in a proper manner and that the land on which the tanks stood had not been handed over to LIOC legally. And the CPC had no authority to give permission to the LIOC to use the tanks because the CPC did not own the tank farm, which was government property. LIOC was also paying only a nominal fee for the use of the tanks.

However, the government of India unofficially warned Sri Lanka that the IOC-CPC deal was the result of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and was a government to government agreement which cannot be unilaterally abrogated. The Sri Lankan government thereafter stopped talking of a takeover but full development of the tanks did not proceed as originally envisaged. But India was keen on participating in the energy sector in Sri Lanka and had an eye on Trincomalee for development as an Indian Ocean energy hub.

The tank farm consisting of 99 tanks is located on an 850-acre block of land. Each of the tanks has a holding capacity of 12,100 metric tons of oil. The total storage capacity is about one million metric tines. After the change of government in Sri Lanka in January 2015, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the proposed an India-Sri Lanka joint venture to develop 30 storage tanks in the first phase. The Government proposes to establish a new venture between Lanka IOC and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to develop the 84 tanks located within the Trincomalee Upper Tank Farm. However, the resoration will cost a lot of money.

The Minister of Petroleum, Chandima Weerakkody, told Parliament that CPC had said that nine could be used after minor repairs. The government wants to increase the total storage capacity to 90,000 MT, enabling it to benefit from the global oil price fluctuations. However, technical and legal issues relating to the on-going joint venture with the LIOC still persist preventing the implementation of plans of the governments of India and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka took minimal steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses, the 2023 report issued by the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour on Sri Lanka's Human Rights Practices has alleged.

A top delegation of the Chinese Communist Party headed by Vice Minister of the International Department, Sun Haiyan met National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the JVP head office today. The delegation included head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao and Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Chen Xiang Yuan.

The head of one of Canada’s largest police forces met with a Sri Lankan inspector general of police who two weeks earlier had been found by the South Asian country’s highest court to have “participated in the torture” of an arrested man.

The Colombo District Court issued an interim injunction preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ebrahim Raisi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe jointly inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP) a short while ago. This project is one of the largest irrigation projects in Sri Lanka following the Mahaweli Development Project

The three-day adournment debate on the Easter Sunday attacks commenced in Parliament today. The adournment debate was moved by SJB MP Niroshan Perera and seconded by SJB MP Kavinda Jayawardane. The debate will be held for three days.

The Sri Lanka Army has decided to appoint a special investigation committee consisting of 07 senior officers chaired by a Major General to probe the accident that occurred during the Diyatalawa Fox Hill Supercross.

Vice Minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Haiyan, is set to arrive in Sri Lanka today for a two-day official visit, as reported by The Thinakaran Newspaper.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that their Consular Affairs Division will be relocated to the new premises at the 16th floor of “Suhurupaya”, Sri Subhuthipura Road, Battaramulla with effect from May 02, 2024.

Two persons have died after police fired at a three-wheeler that was driving in defiance of orders to halt at Millawa in Moragahahena.

A 78-year-old man, Gopal Rao, of Bengaluru, Karnataka, died of a heart attack while he was swimming from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka to the Dhanushkodi islet in Rameswaram, T.N., on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

The National People's Power (NPP) has officially notified the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday that they are prepared to hold the proposed debate between NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on one of the following days: May 7, 9, 13, or 14.

The Catholic Church is planning to present a proposal to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) through several foreign governments and international organizations to initiate an international investigation into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks with a view to mete out justice to the victims of those attacks.

Seven individuals, including a child, lost their lives, and 23 others sustained injuries in a tragic accident at the “Fox Hill Super Cross 2024” racing event in Diyatalawa on Sunday (21). The casualties included four racing event officials serving as flag marshals and civilians who were spectators.

The latest iteration of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) training exercise – CARAT Sri Lanka 2024 will commence with participation by the United States Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and Sri Lanka Navy in Trincomalee today (22).

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who took up the position as the Acting Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) could lose his parliamentary seat, according to the party constitution of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), SLPP MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi said today.

Two racing drivers who participated in yesterday's Fox Hill Super Cross 2024 racing event have been arrested by the police over the accident which killed seven people. The arrested are a 36-year-old racer from Matara and 47-year-old from Mahakanda, Peradeniya.

Fmr Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda met with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval last Friday (19) in New Delhi. Moragoda, the founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, was on a short visit to India and has had discussions with several senior government leaders and heads of think tanks

The Fox Hill Super Cross 2024 racing event, held in Diyatalawa, turned tragic as a race car veered off the track, resulting in the deaths of five individuals and leaving 21 others hospitalized with injuries.

There is a total shortage of 40,000 teachers in schools in the country, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Union, Joseph Stalin said. Addressing the media, he said the shortage of teachers in schools is reported in the Western, Eastern, North-Central, Southern and Uva Provinces.