The country will need bridge financing of around $3 billion till the IMF finalizes its aid package. Talks are already underway with India and China for raising the money. Significantly, Bangladesh is expected to postpone the repayment of around the $450 million currency swap facility that it had extended to Sri Lanka

With Pakistan already facing an economic crisis partly due to its designation in the FATF grey list, the list will convince the FATF plenary meeting in Paris this June that the country continues to be the hotbed of Islamic jihad against India

Gifts given to government officials by foreign governments belong to the state of Pakistan, not some individuals. “These gifts are not meant for taking home,” the court observed

At a press conference on Tuesday, the new information minister said "The media enables accountability of governments, thus enhancing the latter's performance," and also accused the earlier government of suppressing media freedom, gagging vocal journalists and political opponents

The visit by the Indian Navy chief came at a time when New Delhi has been strengthening defense and economic ties with countries in the Indian Ocean littoral, where China has gained a significant footprint in the last couple of years

Assuring protestors that their right to peaceful protest won't be hindered, President Rajapaksa said in a tweet on Wednesday, "@SL_PoliceMedia [Sri Lankan Police] will carry out an impartial and transparent inquiry re [regarding] the incident at Rambukkana which led to the tragedy for which I'm deeply saddened."

The bombings, the first in recent months after a winter lull, reignited the fear among the country’s persecuted minority Hazaras who have been targeted by Sunni extremists repeatedly in the past

After the exit of the US from the region following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the danger of regrouping of transnational terrorist groups has grown significantly. And, here a basic working relationship with Pakistan, many believe, becomes even more crucial for the United States

PML-N, Sharif’s party, got 13 ministries while nine were given to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) led by hardline cleric Maulana Fazlur Rahman got four ministries. MQM-Pakistan, a Karachi-based party, got two ministries

In a bid to push the country into a completely organic state, the Rajapaksa government had last year banned the use and import of chemical fertilizer almost overnight, leading to a loss in yield and production. The move proved costly for the country which was already reeling under the forex crisis amid the loss of tourism income during the pandemic and effectively compromised the country's food security.

“Bangladesh and Nepal are now among the top ten export destinations for India with our total exports to these two countries amounting to over $16 billion,” Shringla said, terming them as “two success stories.”

"This is a very good day as the law punished those who took away an innocent life. It is now hoped that the elements spreading religious extremism will be dealt with in the same manner," he said

Across the nation there is a shortage of food. fuel, medicines and other essentials, with people standing in long long queues for hours to get fuel and other supplies. Power cuts as long as 10 hours a day are adding further misery to the public

'I can confirm that Imran Khan sold state gifts worth Rs140 million [roughly $770000] from the Toshakhana in Dubai,' Shehbaz Sharif, the country’s newly elected prime minister, was quoted as saying by Dawn.

Since 2020, after the pandemic began, Sri Lanka’s central bank has printed over two trillion rupees, in a move to keep interest rates low. This, however, resulted in a balance of payment crisis and also drove up inflation and stock prices (asset price inflation).