Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka's President on Monday following several years of economic woes.

Popularly known as AKD, 56-year-old Marxist leader Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka's ninth president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. He defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) in Saturday's election.

Xi said he hoped bilateral cooperation under his Belt and Road initiative would “bear more fruit”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday he hoped to deepen ties with Sri Lanka as he congratulated the island s new leader Anura Kumara

Marxist politician Anura Dissanayake won Sri Lanka’s presidential election over the weekend, dealing a blow to a political old guard that has been widely blamed for the unprecedented economic crisis t

The frontpage of a newspaper placed on a stack shows an image of Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the National People's Power (NPP) alliance who is elected as new president of Sri Lanka after his victory in the presidential election,

In the late 1980s, Anura Kumara Dissanayake joined a Marxist-Leninist party that sought to assassinate Sri Lanka’s leaders and overthrow the government in an armed insurrection. On Sunday, he won the presidency peacefully at the ballot box.

Sri Lanka's leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office as president on Monday, promising change in the island nation long led by powerful political families which is emerging from its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.

Voters backed Marxist coalition leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, rejecting an old guard accused of leading the country into economic crisis.