Sri Lanka's Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa visits India; President of Maldives visits Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka expresses shocks and concern over blasts inside Mahabodhi temple; Madras Highcour upheld ban on LTTE; 21 more fishermen arrested by S
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    • (JULY 1-7)

    According to reports, Sri Lanka's Economic Development Minister and President's Senior Adviser Basil Rajapaksa, who was on a visit to New Delhi, met representatives of the Tamil Nadu Fishermen Federation in New Delhi on July 5,2013 and held discussions to reach an amicable and meaningful solution to the problems between the fishermen from the two countries. The minister extended an invitation to Tamil Nadu fishermen to visit Sri Lanka to hold discussions with the fishing communities in northern Sri Lanka. 1

    In another development, reports noted that the President of Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Waheed accompanied by First Lady Ilham Hussain and a business delegation made a two-day working visit to Sri Lanka. Reportedly, the objective of President Waheed's visit is to meet Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa in order to facilitate a way by which Maldives can acquire food commodities and construction stone and sand from Sri Lanka. 2

    According to reports, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has expressed shock and concern over the series of blasts inside the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodhgaya district of India.3 Sri Lanka's Buddhist extremist organization Sinhala Ravaya expressed thorough dissatisfaction about India's response over the incident. 4

    In other developments, reportedly, MDMK chief Vaiko, along with two pro-Tamil advocates, had challenged the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) between 2010 and 2012, which was earlier upheld by the Unlawful Activities Tribunal in Chennai. Mr Vaiko, who had fought the case himself in courts, had contended that the LTTE's objective of establishing a sovereign nation for Tamils in the island did not pose any threat to the territorial integrity of India, thus contending that the banning of the organisation in India was unlawful. The Madras High Court has however upheld the Centre's ban on the LTTE. 5

    According to reports, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 21 Indian fishermen in the seas of Thailaimannar for violating Sri Lanka's maritime border on July 6, 2013. 6

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