Bilateral ties between Colombo and Delhi have not been affected, following India voting in favor of US resolution adopted at the UN Human Rights Council this week and increasing anti-Lankan protests in Tamil Nadu, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Prasad Kariyawasam said.
“There is no dispute between India and Sri Lanka. Our bilateral ties are not at all affected,” he said in an interview with THE WEEK.
He stated that the core issue has been the resolution, which was brought in by the United States.
“The resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council was uncalled for as it does not take into account all the progress that Sri Lanka has made since the end of the war,” the Sri Lankan envoy said.
Kariyawasam stated that the resolution was brought by “LTTE lobbies from the west” and that they had benefitted the most after it was adopted on Thursday.
“This is becoming an annual ritual to humiliate Sri Lanka and play great games around Lanka and the Indian Ocean,” he said.
The Sri Lankan High Commissioner stated that Sri Lanka has invited leaders from Tamil Nadu to visit the country and assess the situation for themselves, however no political party from Tamil Nadu has responded so far.
“……India’s political leaders, especially from Tamil Nadu, have not visited Sri Lanka in the last four years despite repeated invitation from us. That is why we say they are misinformed,” Kariyawasam said.
On the recent attacks on Sri Lankan citizens and establishments in Tamil Nadu, he stated that they are being carried out by a very small number of people, “but it can be described as a form of terrorism”.
Asked whether India could also be dragged to the UNHRC on the internal issues faced by it, Kariyawasam stated that creating precedence for external intervention is not a good idea and that India could be at the receiving end from such multilateral platforms in future.
“I request India not to open the floodgates of external intervention as it might engulf not just Sri Lanka but the entire South Asia,” he said.
