Apart from the comments by U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland on the third consecutive day Wednesday, 16 January responding to Sri Lanka's removal of her chief justice, the State Department official web portal on its lead page gave an unusual highlight to Sri Lanka which it never gave before: 'US Aid to Sri Lanka'.

We are all well aware that both India and China are rivals for supremacy in Asia and both are fishing for new strategies to tap to forge the alliances needed to strengthen that supremacy. If India and China nations that once put Buddhism aside for other priorities are now realizing that their answer for supremacy lies with Buddhism why has Sri Lanka’s policy makers not utilized this power which is under their very nose?

India and Sri Lanka have always enjoyed a special relationship not only due to their close geographical proximity but because of their cultural, religious and ethnic affinities and shared history. Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa has aptly described India-Sri Lanka relations as “family”. Of course even such a sibling relationship has had its ups and downs.

The November 9 The New York Times, reporting about the impeachment motion against Sri Lanka's Chief Justice now before the parliament, gave enough fodder to the Subcommittee on South Asian Affairs of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee detrimental to the image of Sri Lanka.

The Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya organised a special Sri Lanka Festival to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and Sri Lanka in Nagoya, Japan on Saturday. A large gathering participated with Ambassador Admiral WasanthaKarannagoda as the Chief Guest.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has now clarified her recent action in sending back Sri Lankan football teams and pilgrims as a symbolic act to register her protest against the continued aberrations in Sri Lanka’s handling of Tamils. Sri Lankan pilgrims and others are welcome to visit Tamil Nadu she has added wisely, as a lakh of people come to Chennai from Sri Lanka.

It has been reported that Sri Lanka is expected to lobby the support of friendly US congressmen to defeat a resolution tabled in the House of Representatives on September 07 by seven congressmen demanding an international inquiry into alleged violations of the international humanitarian law during the military battle against the separatist/terrorist Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had reportedly wanted a special exposition of Kapilawastu-relics at Temple Trees.

‘Relic diplomacy’ is a standard weapon in the arsenal of those in possession of movable holy-objects, from the Catholic Church to India and China. The Rajapaksa version is relic-politics: using sacred items venerated by masses of believers as a means to bridge popularity deficits.