<h1> </h1><ul><li>Vessels approx. 25 nautical miles offshore, outside SL territorial sea: Foreign Min.</li><li>Ministry rejects reports of formal US–SL talks on denying supplies for Iranian vessels&nbsp;</li></ul> The Government has no plans to provide supplies or other facilities to Iranian vessels currently positioned off the island as they remain outside Sri Lanka’s territorial sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism told The Sunday Morning, amid heightened scrutiny over United States sanctions targeting Iran and entities dealing with sanctioned parties.Ministry Public Diplomacy Division Director General Thushara Rodrigo said that the Iranian vessels were currently located about 25 nautical miles off Sri Lanka and therefore beyond the country’s 12-nautical mile territorial sea.“They are not in Sri Lankan waters,” he said, adding that the Government had no plans to provide supplies or facilities to the vessels.Rodrigo was responding to international reports that Iranian and Iran-linked tankers have been stranded in waters near Sri Lanka and elsewhere in Asia as Washington intensifies its sanctions campaign against Tehran.The Wall Street Journal reported last week that around 20 Iranian oil tankers had been stranded near Sri Lanka and Malaysia, with some running low on essential supplies including food, fuel, and fresh water. The newspaper further reported that US officials had pressured Sri Lanka to prevent local operators from supplying sanctioned vessels, warning of possible exposure to secondary sanctions.Rodrigo, however, said some reports had created a misleading impression that US warnings concerning secondary sanctions had been specifically directed at Sri Lanka.He stressed that the US sanctions regime and the potential secondary sanctions risks faced by parties dealing with sanctioned Iranian entities were not measures applicable exclusively to Sri Lanka.The US Department of the Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on 24 August, significantly expanding sanctions risks for parties continuing certain business with Iran and warning that entities facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Tehran risked being cut off from the US financial system.The US Treasury has also targeted Iran’s maritime and sanctions-evasion networks, including shipping facilitators, vessel brokers, service providers, and financial intermediaries linked to Iranian petroleum and other sanctioned activities.Washington further expanded its Iran sanctions on Thursday (1), targeting the country’s automotive and rail sectors as well as foreign suppliers and facilitators. The Treasury said that the measures formed part of Operation Economic Outcast and reiterated the secondary sanctions risks faced by foreign parties conducting certain business with sanctioned Iranian entities.Rodrigo also rejected reports suggesting that formal discussions had taken place between the US Embassy in Colombo and the Foreign Ministry on denying supplies to the Iranian vessels.However, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath had previously confirmed that the US Embassy had communicated with the Foreign Ministry regarding Iranian vessels operating in international waters near Sri Lanka. This, after the Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation told The Sunday Morning in August that the US had not notified Colombo through official channels.&nbsp;Speaking at the Cabinet media briefing on 8 September, Herath claimed that the embassy had informed the ministry about the vessels and inquired whether Sri Lankan authorities were aware of their presence and monitoring them. The Defence and Ports Ministries had subsequently been informed and the vessels had been monitored, he said.Therefore, the publicly acknowledged communication concerned the presence and monitoring of the vessels, while Rodrigo rejected reports that formal discussions had taken place with the US Embassy concerning the provision or denial of supplies to them.Separately, Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku was reported last month as saying that information received from the US Embassy concerning vessels sanctioned by Washington was being communicated through Sri Lankan authorities to maritime service providers in an effort to protect local companies from possible secondary sanctions exposure.Earlier, Herath said that Sri Lankan authorities had identified 47 vessels operating in international waters in the vicinity of the island, including several Iranian vessels, but that none were within Sri Lanka’s territorial sea.He also said at the time that none of the vessels had requested facilities or assistance from the Government and that no such facilities had been provided.

No supplies for Iranian ships: Govt.

<ul><li>SL asks India for date before or after budget period</li><li>Ministry calls on researchers to develop alternatives to bottom trawling in Kalpitiya</li><li>New act to replace decades-old law expected in Parliament within this year</li></ul> A key Joint Working Group meeting between Sri Lanka and India on cross-border bottom trawling, originally scheduled for September, has been postponed following a request from the Indian side, with a new date yet to be fixed, Fisheries Ministry Secretary Dr. Kolitha Kamal Jinadasa has said.Responding to questions on the bottom trawling issue at a forum on marine and coastal issues in Sri Lanka on Tuesday (29 September), Dr. Jinadasa described the dispute between Sri Lankan and Indian fisherfolk as “a quite delicate diplomatic question”.“Our plan was to manage this with the Indian Government and we had planned for the next working group in September, but following a request from the Indian side, it was postponed to October,” Dr. Jinadasa said.The dispute centres on mechanised trawlers from Tamil Nadu illegally crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) into northern Sri Lankan waters, depleting fish stocks and damaging marine ecosystems.&nbsp;Sri Lanka banned bottom trawling completely in 2017 and introduced steep fines in 2018, while India has sought to curb the practice by offering subsidised schemes to convert bottom trawlers into deep-sea tuna long-lining vessels and by banning fresh registrations of bottom trawlers in Tamil Nadu. Illegal incursions, however, have persisted.Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Dr. Jinadasa explicitly clarified that the meeting had been deferred strictly due to a medical emergency and not for any political reason.&nbsp;As a result, the Indian Secretary was also unable to attend the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) conference in Rome, where officials from both countries had originally planned to meet.A new date for the meeting has not yet been fixed. Dr. Jinadasa said a primary hurdle in rescheduling was that Sri Lankan Government officials were prohibited from travelling abroad during Sri Lanka’s parliamentary budget period. Owing to these travel restrictions, Sri Lanka has requested India to set a date for the meeting either before or after the budget period.During the forum, Dr. Jinadasa said that despite the delay in bilateral talks, Sri Lanka was maintaining a firm dual-track approach to protect its sovereign waters and marine ecosystems.“Our plan involves action in two ways: one is continuing arrests and another is discussions with the Government,” he said.On the enforcement front, Sri Lankan authorities are maintaining active maritime patrols and apprehend between 50 and 75 illegal trawlers each year. Dr. Jinadasa noted that radar tracking and entrance monitoring data showed a “significant reduction” in incursions by Tamil Nadu trawlers, but cautioned that the issue persisted.On the diplomatic front, Dr. Jinadasa said that India had outlined steps to transition its fleet away from destructive fishing practices.According to him, Indian officials have introduced a new loan scheme to Indian fishermen at a very low interest rate to change bottom trawlers into long-line fishing, a programme India reports as successful.India is also rolling out a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) to enable the Indian Navy and Coast Guard to manage fleet movements. Dr. Jinadasa commended the technology, describing the VMS as “one of the best in this region”.In addition to foreign incursions, Dr. Jinadasa highlighted domestic bottom trawling challenges in Kalpitiya, Mannar, and Jaffna. Although official gazette notices prohibit bottom trawling, he said enforcement had remained lax until a court injunction halted operations for 28 local fishermen in Kalpitiya.The Kalpitiya fleet targets a highly lucrative commercial shrimp species known locally as kurutu issa. Emphasising the economic importance of the catch, Dr. Jinadasa said it was “a very good resource” and a good source of foreign income.&nbsp;He noted that this had created heavy pressure from local communities to find a sustainable solution.To address the deadlock, the ministry has engaged the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and local universities to design alternative, selective fishing gear. NARA research indicates that if harvesting stops entirely, non-target species such as karalla (ponyfish) will begin to dominate the ecosystem, threatening its ecological balance.“We do not have any new fishing gear for this fishery other than bottom trawling,” Dr. Jinadasa admitted. “We invite researchers and organisations to introduce new fishing gear that we can use.”He added that new fisheries legislation was on its way to be submitted to Parliament to modernise the regulatory framework.Rather than introducing piecemeal amendments to the existing, decades-old law, the ministry is introducing a brand-new fisheries act to replace the old framework entirely.The upcoming act includes a specific window – a legal provision to allow and accommodate newly introduced fishing gear. Since bottom trawling is prohibited by gazette but lacks viable alternatives for specialised harvests such as the kurutu issa shrimp in Kalpitiya, the ministry plans to use this legal leeway to permit selective, non-destructive gear once researchers from NARA or universities develop it.Outlining the legislative progress, Dr. Jinadasa said that extensive stakeholder meetings had been conducted, Cabinet approval had been obtained, and the draft had been submitted to the Legal Draftsman. The ministry has already responded to and resolved all comments raised by the Legal Draftsman.The ministry expects to table the new act in Parliament within this year. The specific regulations under the act will be drafted and implemented after the main act is passed by Parliament.

Bottom trawling: Talks with India postponed, no new date fixed

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has identified approximately 34,000 individuals who failed to submit their asset declarations and fines will be strictly enforced against all defaulters.CIABOC Director General Ranga Dissanayake revealed the enforcement action at a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF) held last week. Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development Department of National Budget Additional Director General Anoma Nandani also participated in the meeting.“We have identified 34,000 individuals. Fines will be strictly imposed on all of them as stipulated under the act,” Dissanayake said.COPF Chair Dr. Harsha de Silva noted that revenue from these statutory fines could help support the CIABOC Fund, particularly as the commission expands its operational footprint across the island.Under the Anti-Corruption Act No.9 of 2023, politicians, specified public officials, and designated individuals must submit annual declarations of assets and liabilities by 30 June, covering dependents and cohabitants, and reflecting holdings as of 31 March.Declarations delayed beyond the deadline incur automatic salary deductions transferred directly to the CIABOC. For submissions between 1 and 31 July, the fine is one-thirtieth of the gross monthly salary for each day of default, while for submissions between 1 and 31 August, it is one-thirtieth of the average total salary of the preceding six months.&nbsp;Submissions delayed beyond 1 September constitute a criminal offence, carrying, upon conviction, a fine equal to 12 months’ gross salary, imprisonment of up to one year, or both.The committee also discussed the operational framework and financial structure of the CIABOC Fund, established under the act.&nbsp;In response to a clarification sought by Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Dissanayake said the commission had explicitly decided not to deposit regular Government budget allocations into the fund, ensuring that it remained exempt from standard Treasury circulars and general spending restrictions, thereby preserving its operational independence.Under the act, disbursements from the fund are restricted to two areas, for which formal rules have been drafted and gazetted: payments related to confidential informants and specialised contractual arrangements under Section 27, and payments, protection, and compensation for witnesses under Section 144.In addition to statutory fines, including those imposed on the 34,000 late declarants, the fund may receive external donations, grants, and other non-appropriation sources directly, rather than through the Government’s Consolidated Fund.Dissanayake noted that accountants often faced audit objections when paying routine investigation expenses, such as hiring forensic auditing firms; paying field experts, including for geological or archaeological inspections by experts; or travelling abroad to record witness statements.&nbsp;To address this, the Finance Ministry agreed to establish a dedicated sub-project budget line within the CIABOC’s State budget allocation, allowing such expenses to be covered legitimately without exhausting the fund.Establishing 23 regional offices by 31 December is a primary benchmark under Sri Lanka’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) Governance Action Plan. Updating the committee on progress, Dissanayake said that joint inspections with district secretaries across nine districts had revealed that most existing State buildings required extensive repairs.To avoid delays, the CIABOC intends to lease premises in five to six districts initially, complete recruitment by 1 December, and formally open the regional centres by 1 January 2027. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is providing computer and technical equipment worth Rs. 109 million for the regional offices through a $ 2.5 million grant from the Government of Japan.The committee spent considerable time resolving friction between general Treasury spending circulars and the CIABOC’s independent statutory mandate. Dissanayake pointed out the need to preserve the commission’s legal autonomy.“If I compromise the independence given under this act in my initial steps, it will face heavy criticism. Although the Management Services Department offered to approve our cadre internally, I did not go there because Section 25 explicitly states that the commission itself must decide its cadre,” he said.To prevent recurring budget impasses between the Finance Ministry and independent bodies, Dr. de Silva ruled that the Treasury must issue a separate budget call for independent institutions such as the CIABOC and the Auditor General’s Department.&nbsp;Under this mechanism, independent bodies will submit their budget estimates directly to the Speaker of Parliament by late May or late June, allowing up to two months for parliamentary review and Treasury consultations ahead of the 31 July deadline for the Integrated Treasury Management Information System (ITMIS).

Asset declaration: 34,000 defaulters to face strict fines

<ul><li>21 km underground pipeline to link Muthurajawela with BIA</li><li>92,000 cubic metres of Jet A-1 storage capacity planned</li><li>Rs. 28 b profit this year being channelled into infrastructure: CPC&nbsp;</li></ul> Construction of a new Jet A-1 aviation fuel pipeline linking Muthurajawela with the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), together with a 92,000-cubic metre aviation fuel storage facility, commenced on Friday (2), with the projects expected to strengthen Sri Lanka’s aviation fuel supply infrastructure.According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), construction commenced under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with the projects aimed at ensuring aviation fuel security, reducing transportation costs, and expanding storage capacity to meet future demand.The new Jet A-1 storage facility in Muthurajawela will comprise five tanks with a combined capacity of 92,000 cubic metres.The facility will include two tanks with a capacity of 30,000 cubic metres each, two 15,000-cubic metre tanks, and an additional 2,000-cubic metre tank.The Muthurajawela facility will be connected to the BIA through a 21 km underground pipeline, measuring 10 inches in diameter. The project is expected to be completed within 30 months.Meanwhile, Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd. (CPSTL) has commenced a separate project to construct three additional storage tanks at its Muthurajawela Terminal, which will increase storage capacity by a further 40,000 cubic metres.The project consists of two 15,000-cubic metre tanks and one 10,000-cubic metre tank. It has an 18-month contractual period and is scheduled for completion in April 2028.Speaking at the event, President Dissanayake said that the Government’s objective was to maintain a strong State presence in the energy market while ensuring efficient services to the public.Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation and Energy Anura Karunathilaka said that Sri Lanka was entering a period of energy transition, with the Government expecting to add 1,200 MW of solar power capacity to the national grid by 2029.He stressed that the country should focus not only on controlling fuel prices but also on reducing fuel consumption through greater electrification and increased use of fuel-efficient and electric vehicles.Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman D.J.A.S. De S. Rajakaruna, meanwhile, said that the corporation had recorded a Rs. 28 billion profit this year, following a Rs. 36 billion profit last year.According to Rajakaruna, the CPC’s profits are being reinvested in infrastructure development, including increasing fuel storage capacity, modernising oil-filling facilities, constructing new pipelines, and upgrading existing petroleum infrastructure.&nbsp;

Energy security: New aviation fuel pipeline gets underway

<ul><li>NMRA reviewing registered products to set MRPs</li><li>Regulating 13 high-cost medicines to save an estimated Rs. 5.7 b&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul> The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) is reviewing around 6,000 registered medicines as part of an ongoing process to set Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs) for all medicines registered in the country.When contacted by The Sunday Morning, NMRA Chairman Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama said that the MRP would be assigned to brands when the NMRA issued or renewed their report licences and/or registration licences. According to him, the prices will be reviewed as part of an ongoing process.Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday (1), Dr. Wijewickrama noted that Government measures to regulate the prices of 13 high-cost medicines were expected to generate savings of around Rs. 5.7 billion.&nbsp;These price reductions primarily cover medicines commonly prescribed for long-term treatment. This initiative is expected to ease some of the financial pressure faced by patients who need to purchase these medicines regularly, particularly those requiring continued treatment to manage chronic conditions.According to him, the NMRA has obtained tender price information for 13 medicines from the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) for 2023, 2024, and the current year. This estimate was then calculated by comparing tender prices paid by the SPC in 2024 with prices paid this year.&nbsp;“When we compare the prices in 2024 with those this year, the estimated savings for these 13 medicines is more than Rs. 5 billion,” he told The Sunday Morning.However, Dr. Wijewickrama stressed that the saving should not be attributed solely to the introduction of price controls.&nbsp;“It is not exclusively due to price controls but due to more registrations being granted by the NMRA, timely ordering of medicines by the Medical Supplies Division (MSD), and timely placement and selection of tenders for these medicines by the SPC,” he said. “It’s a result of all three institutions working together in coordination over the last two years.”Dr. Wijewickrama also said that the reported savings related to medicines purchased for the Government and should therefore be viewed as a saving for the country as a whole, rather than as a direct monthly reduction in medicine bills of private patients.&nbsp;“These are the medicines purchased for the Government. This is a saving for the country and for everybody.”He assured that the regulator would analyse other medicines in the future, with the initial review focusing on the 13 high-cost medicines.Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe welcomed the NMRA’s move to expand price controls, saying the initiative could directly benefit patients who obtained treatment from the private sector.&nbsp;“Initially, we only had price restrictions for nearly 100 medicines. The current Chairman and the team are taking a positive step. We appreciate the initiative of maintaining quality and price controls,” Dr. Wijesinghe said.He noted that approximately half of outpatient visits took place in the private sector, including private hospitals and general practitioner practices. By contrast, only around 5–10% of inpatient visits take place in the private sector.“If there is price control, it definitely benefits the patient,” he said.Dr. Wijesinghe said the country’s free healthcare system did not eliminate the financial burden faced by patients, particularly when medicines were unavailable at Government hospitals. He recalled that out-of-pocket expenditure – the amount patients pay for their own treatment – had been approximately 45% around 2021 and had risen above 50% during the economic crisis.He said that the GMOA had repeatedly called for stronger price controls after exchange rates, fuel prices, and electricity costs had begun to stabilise.&nbsp;“We made repeated requests for price control regulations and to bring down the prices of the medicines, which would directly benefit patients,” he said.

6,000 medicines face price caps

<ul><li>Corporation absorbs approx. Rs. 66 loss per litre of auto diesel</li><li>3-month losses yet to be calculated as Govt. splits burden among State, suppliers, consumers</li><li>Private fuel suppliers also facing losses due to higher landed costs</li></ul> The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is set to continue incurring substantial losses on fuel sales over the next three months despite the Government committing Rs. 41 billion in subsidies and raising domestic fuel prices, with the corporation currently absorbing an estimated Rs. 66 loss on every litre of auto diesel sold.The total losses expected to be incurred by the CPC and other fuel suppliers during the three-month subsidy period were yet to be calculated, Ministry of Energy Secretary G.M.R.D. Aponsu told The Sunday Morning.The Government has adopted a three-way cost-sharing mechanism under which the State, fuel suppliers, and consumers will share the burden arising from higher international petroleum prices.“One party is the Government. The second comprises all four players – the CPC, Lanka IOC, Sinopec, and RM Parks. The third party is the general public, or consumers,” Aponsu said.The Government has approved a Rs. 41 billion relief package for three months, providing a subsidy of Rs. 70 per litre on auto diesel and industrial diesel, with diesel identified as the fuel category generating the heaviest losses.However, even this intervention will not fully cover the losses incurred by the CPC.Speaking to the media on Thursday (1), CPC Chairman D.J.A.S. De S. Rajakaruna said that the estimated cost of auto diesel stood at Rs. 528 per litre, compared with the revised retail price of Rs. 392 – a gap of Rs. 136.With the Government absorbing Rs. 70 of that gap through the subsidy, the CPC would still have to bear approximately Rs. 66 per litre.Aponsu acknowledged that the subsidy would not eliminate the corporation’s overall losses.“It will still have some losses from other fuel types,” he said. “That is why we increased the prices of 92 octane petrol, diesel, and super diesel. That is the share of the general public or consumers.”Fuel prices were revised with effect from midnight Wednesday (30 September), increasing auto diesel to Rs. 392 per litre, super diesel to Rs. 528, and 92 octane petrol to Rs. 414. Meanwhile, 95 octane petrol and kerosene remained unchanged at Rs. 475 and Rs. 285 per litre, respectively.According to figures cited by the CPC Chairman, 92 octane petrol and super diesel are also being sold at prices that leave the corporation bearing part of their costs.The Energy Ministry is yet to determine how much the CPC and other suppliers will ultimately lose during the three-month period, with Aponsu saying the calculation depends partly on when individual companies had purchased their existing stocks.“The different organisations use the fuel they purchased at different times. When they use up their stocks, it involves a complex calculation,” he said.Aponsu further noted that private suppliers – Lanka IOC, Sinopec, and RM Parks – had higher landed costs than the CPC and would therefore also continue to absorb losses despite the Government subsidy.Meanwhile, former MP Patali Champika Ranawaka has disputed the CPC’s cost calculations, publishing a comparison on social media based on Free on Board (FOB) prices at the Port of Singapore and an exchange rate of $ 1 to Rs. 330.According to Ranawaka’s calculations, 92 octane petrol costs Rs. 292 per litre at the cited import price level compared with the local retail price of Rs. 414, while 95 octane petrol costs Rs. 305 compared with Rs. 475 locally. He placed auto diesel at Rs. 350 compared with the local Rs. 392 and super diesel at Rs. 367 compared with Rs. 528.He also called for an explanation regarding what he described as substantial profits from furnace oil supplied to the Ceylon Electricity Board at Rs. 210 per litre.

CPC to bleed despite Rs. 41 b fuel subsidy

<ul><li>Parliament orders 45-day probe into delays&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul> A backlog of 678,000 driving licences awaiting printing at the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) is likely to take until around the end of the year to clear, based on figures presented to Parliament, even after new printing machines are installed in mid-October.The figures were revealed by the DMT during a recent meeting of the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Infrastructure and Strategic Development, chaired by MP S.M. Marikkar.Deliberations at the meeting disclosed a critical bottleneck in the printing of driving licence cards, with the department’s daily printing output currently standing at only 4,600 cards.When inquired by the SOC members, DMT officials stated that two new printing machines were scheduled to be installed on 15 October, increasing daily printing capacity to 8,200 cards and accelerating the clearance of pending applications.Based on these figures, if printing continues at the current rate until 15 October and at full capacity thereafter, the existing backlog would take approximately two-and-a-half months more to clear, extending to around the end of December.&nbsp;This estimate does not account for new applications received in the meantime, or for days on which printing does not take place, either of which would push the timeline further.The committee instructed that a comprehensive investigation be conducted into the matter and a full report submitted within 45 days.A committee member told The Sunday Morning that the inquiry would examine the root causes of the delays and the existing operational bottlenecks at the DMT, the tender and procurement procedures for licence cards and number plates, and the technical upgrades and infrastructure improvements required to prevent future delays.Regarding vehicle number plates, the committee member noted that plates for vehicles registered after 10 March this year had been issued within 14 days.However, the 45-day investigation will evaluate the broader procurement and long-term delivery processes for both number plates and driving licences to ensure an efficient and uninterrupted public service.The driving licence printing crisis dates back to January 2021, when the Government transferred the printing process from a private joint venture to the Sri Lanka Army, which set up operations at the DMT’s Werahera branch to cut State costs.&nbsp;The 2022 economic crisis left the DMT unable to open Letters of Credit to import card blanks and printing materials, forcing it to halt permanent smart cards and issue temporary one-year paper permits with a security QR code instead.&nbsp;When the DMT took the operations back from the Army in late 2023, nearly all printing machines had broken down due to heavy use and a lack of spare parts, leaving only two operational machines for the whole country, causing the backlog to swell towards 900,000.&nbsp;Although one million card blanks were later imported from Australia, daily output of just 2,000–4,000 cards from a handful of functioning printers, along with postal delivery backlogs during back-to-back national elections, kept the backlog from clearing.

Driving licence backlog unlikely to clear by year-end

The Pathfinder Foundation and the China Center for South Asian Studies (CCSAS), Sichuan University jointly launched the Colombo Maritime Dialogue (CMD) 2026 Report at a virtual event, where representatives of both institutes joined a virtual platform to launch the publication.&nbsp;The report, ‘Colombo Maritime Dialogue 2026,’ is available on the Pathfinder website: www.pathfinderfoundation.org.The virtual launch began with a welcome and opening remarks from Pathfinder Foundation Chairman Bernard Goonetilleke and CCSAS Chief Expert and Vice Director Prof. Qiu Yonghui. The report was formally launched during the ceremony, followed by concluding remarks from CCSAS Chair Professor Prof. Rong Ying and Pathfinder Foundation Distinguished Fellow Admiral (Retd) Prof. Jayanath Colombage.The Colombo Maritime Dialogue 2026, held on 13 and 14 May, brought together experts and scholars to exchange perspectives on maritime affairs and to explore opportunities for greater cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) under the theme ‘Fostering Win-Win Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region’.&nbsp;The dialogue recognised the Indian Ocean as a vital global maritime space for international trade, energy flows, connectivity, and economic development, while also acknowledging the region’s increasingly complex security and environmental challenges.&nbsp;It examined areas of potential cooperation to address shared maritime challenges, including maritime safety; Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; maritime crime; disaster response; maritime domain awareness; and the sustainable management of marine resources. The report also highlighted the importance of strengthening dialogue and building greater mutual understanding among countries and institutions in the Indian Ocean.The report captures the key discussions, perspectives, and recommendations that emerged from the dialogue, highlighting areas where continued dialogue, cooperation, and engagement could foster greater understanding and shared interests in the IOR.&nbsp;

Pathfinder Foundation, CCSAS launch CMD 2026 Report

&nbsp;Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero has been arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) at the Thiniyawala Aranya Senasanaya in Kalutara, Sri Lanka Police stated. The arrest was made under a warrant issued for his arrest and production before court. The warrant was issued after the Supreme Court invalidated the presidential pardon previously granted to Gnanasara Thero over a contempt of court charge.

No supplies for Iranian ships: Govt.

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Gnanasara Thero arrested at te ...

Bottom trawling: Talks with India postponed, no new date fixed

Bottom trawling: Talks with In ...

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Asset declaration: 34,000 defa ...

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Energy security: New aviation ...

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6,000 medicines face price cap ...

CPC to bleed despite Rs. 41 b fuel subsidy

CPC to bleed despite Rs. 41 b ...

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Driving licence backlog unlike ...

Pathfinder Foundation, CCSAS launch CMD 2026 Report

Pathfinder Foundation, CCSAS l ...

Gnanasara Thero arrested at temple in Kalutara

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CPC to bleed despite Rs. 41 b fuel subsidy

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