Prime Minister of Sri Lanka – Dinesh Gunawardena arrived in Beijing earlier today (March 25) for a six-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
He was received by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister – Sun Weidong and officials of the Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing including and Acting Ambassador K.K. Yoganandan.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Xi Jinping will meet with PM Gunawardena. The visiting Sri Lankan PM will also hold talks with his Chinese counterpart as well as with Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
During PM Gunawardena’s visit, the leaders will have an in-depth exchange of views on continuing China-Sri Lanka traditional friendship, deepening political mutual trust, expanding practical cooperation, and on international and regional issues of common interest, Chinese state media reports.
The Prime Minister will be the Chief Guest at China’s premier annual international conference in Boao in Hainan. This year’s Boao forum, which will be held under the theme – ’Asia and the World: Common Challenges, Shared Responsibilities’, will be attended by several heads of state and top-level foreign delegates.
He was accompanied by State Ministers Shehan Semasinghe and Ashoka Priyantha, MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka – Qi Zhenhong, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake and senior officials.
According to the Prime Minister’s media, the PM is also scheduled to visit China Harbour Headquarters, Huawei, Zhongguancun Environmental Protection Park, National Satellite Meteorological Centre in Beijing and Academy of Tropical Sciences in Hainan. In Shanghai, he will visit Alipay, CTripp, Dilmah Tea and Universal Energy in addition to meetings with Shanghai officials.
Ampara District Organizer of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal party and former member of the Eastern Provincial Council K. Pushpakumar alias Iniya Bharathi has been arrested.
He was arrested over the abduction and disappearance of the former Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. Subramaniyam Ravindranath.
Sivanathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and former State Minister, was arrested by the Colombo Criminal Investigation Department at his office in Batticaloa on April 8, over this incident.
He was later detained for 3 months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Iniya Bharathi, also known as Kumaraswamy Pushpakumar, was arrested based on information revealed during the interrogation of Pillayan.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said the electronic Revenue Licence system (eRL 2.0) is currently unavailable due to a critical technical infrastructure issue.
According to the ICTA, the disruption began on July 3, 2025, and has made vehicle revenue licence issuing services inaccessible.
The unavailability is expected to continue until July 9, 2025.
The ICTA expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the public and assured that technical teams are working urgently to resolve the issue.
The agency also said that further updates will be shared as work progresses, with an official notice to be issued once services are restored.
