WEDNESDAY, 17 AUGUST 2011Says panel report could still go to UNHRC
By Sunil Jayasiri
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Claiming that the Expert Panel report on Sri Lanka known as the Darusman report has not been formally submitted to the Human Rights Council yet, the UN said it expected to see that concerned Member States would “take it up and push for something further.”UN Chief’s Acting Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq however told the media that the report could be sent to the HRC in the near future.
The next session of the HRC is to be held from September 18 to 30. However, the HRC is yet to release the agenda for the next session.
It is also learnt that the United States is pushing to have ‘interactive talks’ on the Sri Lankan issue at the next HRC session.A highly placed government official meanwhile told the Daily Mirror that Sri Lanka did not expect that member states would take up the issue at the next session as the issue was irrelevant. However, he said that steps were being taken to prevent the issue from being discussed at the session with the help of powerful friendly nations including China and Russia.
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Sri Lanka signs $500 mn port deal with China
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Sri Lanka signs $500 mn port deal with China
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka on Tuesday announced it had clinched its largest ever single foreign investment deal by signing a $500-million contract with a Chinese-led consortium to build a new container terminal.
The investment is the latest by China in the tropical island nation that has sparked concern from its closest neighbour and biggest trading partner, India, which sees Sri Lanka as part of its sphere of influence in South Asia.
China Merchant Holdings International will own 55 percent of the three-way venture, with Sri Lanka's Aitken Spence holding 30 percent and state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority 15 percent, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"This is Sri Lanka?s single largest private-sector foreign investment project," the statement said, adding that it was signed during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's four-day visit to China last week.
Planned to be built over five years, the first part of the Colombo project is expected to be ready in 2013.
Two other Chinese firms, China Harbour and Sino Hydro, are building a $1.5-billion port in the Sri Lankan town of Hambantota, which is President Rajapakse's constituency.
Sri Lanka hopes to double the amount of foreign direct investment it attracts this year to $1 billion from $516 million in 2010. It aims to use the money largely for infrastructure projects.
China, which clocked over $1 billion worth of trade with Sri Lanka in the first six months of this year, has committed large loans to build railways, roads, electricity and an airport in the island.
In 2010, China lent Sri Lanka $821 million which accounted for 25 percent of the island's foreign loans and the figure for the previous year was even higher at $1.2 billion.
China is also developing port facilities in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan, and has plans for rail projects in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Analysts have said New Delhi is concerned that Beijing's investments in South Asia are part of a bid by China to throw a geographical circle of influence around India.
Last year, India said China was displaying "more than normal interest" in the Indian Ocean region.
