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 scored a challenging 198-5 after being put in to bat in the one-off Twenty20 international against Bangladesh in Pallekele on Sunday. Opener Kusal Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with a 44-ball 64, while Jeevan Mendis (37), Angelo Mathews (30 not out) and Thisara Perera (22 not out) were the other main scorers. str-mv/ia

Sri Lanka boosted security for Muslim-owned businesses across the country on Friday after a clothing store was torched by hundreds of Buddhist hardliners, escalating religious tensions. Police said commandos of the elite Special Task Force were deployed in the Colombo suburb of Pepiliyana where mobs from the ethnic Sinhalese majority stoned and later set fire to a store and warehouse owned by Muslims late on Thursday.