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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov 26 (NNN-SLNEWS) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank chief, Indrajit Coomaraswamy, has tendered his resignation, and will step down from the post next month, local media reports said here today (Tuesday).

Coomaraswamy tendered his resignation, citing personal reasons, and is expected to function till mid Dec.

He was appointed as the Central Bank chief in July, 2016, replacing Arjuna Mahendran, who faced charges of being involved in a mega bond scam.

Beijing, Nov 26 (AP/PTI) China's Commerce Ministry says the lead envoys in trade talks between China and the US spoke on the phone and agreed to continue to work toward a preliminary agreement for resolving their tariff war.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a brief notice that Vice Premier Liu He spoke with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin early Tuesday Beijing time.

Colombo, Nov 25 (PTI) Sri Lanka will work with India and it won't do anything that will harm its interests, newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said ahead of his visit to New Delhi later this week.

Rajapaksa, who is considered pro-China, said he wanted Sri Lanka to be a "neutral country" and work with all the countries.

"We will work with India as a friendly country and won't do anything that will harm India's interests," said Rajapaksa, who will travel to New Delhi on November 29 on his first official trip abroad as Sri Lankan President.

NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The first consignment of 6,090 tonnes of onions procured by the Indian government from Egypt will reach Mumbai port in the first week of December, officials said on Tuesday.

"Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) has placed an order for the first consignment of 6090 MT of onions from Egypt which will be arriving at Nhava Sheva (JNPT), Mumbai," said a statement from India's federal ministry of food and consumer affairs.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) has identified various Malaysian products which could potentially fill in the gaps arising from the United States-China trade conflict.

Deputy chief executive officer Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz said the product categories include electrical and electronics (E&E), machinery and equipment, optical and scientific products, petroleum as well as chemicals and chemical products.

SACHEON (South Korea) Nov 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia is interested with the progress achieved by South Korea in the aerospace industry,  Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

Speaking during his visit to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) facility here,  the prime minister expressed his particular interest in the country’s fighter jet programme.

“I have always been interested in fighter planes and indigenous planes. I want to see how it perform and advancement of your aircraft industry, ” he told KAI’s CEO Ahn Hyun-ho who received him at the facility earlier.

BAGHDAD, Nov 25 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mohammed al-Hakim, hailed relations between China and Iraq, describing the bilateral ties as “excellent.”

Al-Hakim made the remarks during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador, Zhang Tao, where he praised the stable and developed Iraqi-Chinese relations, said a statement by the Chinese embassy in Iraq.

TEHRAN, Nov. 24 (NNN-IRNA) – A senior Iranian military official, said that, the Iranian ground forces have become self-sufficient in drone technology.

“The Iranian ground troops have so far conducted some development plans, in order to provide all army units with hardware to stand up to any possible threats,” Kiumars Heidari, commander of Iranian Army Ground Forces, said, in a meeting with senior army officials.

Heidari said earlier that, a new prototype of the Farpad hand-propelled UAV had been built and delivered to operational units.

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Monday that a UK-U.S. trade deal would be very difficult to agree, saying protectionist sentiment worldwide was making trade agreements harder to negotiate.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath on a United States-UK trade deal, I think it is going to be very difficult,” Blair told a Reuters Newsmaker event.

“In today’s world they (trade deals) are even more difficult because there is a lot of protectionist sentiment.”

KUNMING, China, Nov 24 (NNN-XINHUA) – Chinese companies, signed contracts worth 1.3 billion yuan (about 184 million U.S. dollars) to purchase goods, mainly agricultural products, from their Laos counterparts.

The deals were signed as the 2019 Sino-Laos Investment Fair concluded Friday, in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province.