Foreign Secretary, Mr. Jalil Abbas Jilani, will visit Sri Lanka on April 4 to take part in the 3rd Round of Bilateral Political Consultations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The last round of talks occurred from 1719 July 2007 in Islamabad. During his stay, the Foreign Secretary will call upon Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa; Minister of External Affairs G.L.

Dock workers at Sri Lanka's main container port called Tuesday for a boycott of cargo from neighbouring India amid worsening relations. Ruling party-affiliated workers staged the protest at Colombo harbour, demanding that the government retaliate against politicians in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu who have called for trade sanctions against Sri Lanka. "There is an anti-Sri Lanka campaign in Tamil Nadu," a union spokesman told reporters at the demonstration. "We want the port to stop handling cargo from south Indian ports."

Sri Lanka's police arrested three Buddhist monks on Monday over the smashing of a Muslim-owned clothing store that heightened religious tensions in the country, an official said. Police superintendent Buddhika Siriwardena said the monks were detained four days after a mob of Sinhalese-Buddhist men vandalised and torched a section of the three-storey building in the Pepiliyana suburb of Colombo.

Sri Lanka's police arrested four people and were looking for more suspects on Saturday over the smashing of a Muslim-owned clothing store that raised religious tensions in the country, a spokesman said. Police Superintendent Buddhika Siriwardena said a search was under way for those who torched and vandalised a section of the three-storeyed clothing store and warehouse on Thursday night in the Papiliyana suburb of Colombo.