Sri Lanka must ensure justice for Tamils: Indian PM Modi
August 23, 2014 03:37 pm
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged Sri Lanka to ensure “equality, dignity, justice and self-respect” for its Tamil minority.
Mr Modi made the appeal when a six-member delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party, called on him.
“The prime minister stressed the need for a political solution that addresses the aspirations of the Tamil community for equality, dignity, justice and self respect within the framework of a united Sri Lanka,” an official statement said.
Mr Modi urged “all stakeholders in Sri Lanka to engage constructively, in a spirit of partnership and mutual accommodation, towards finding a political solution”.
This should be built “upon the 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution”, he said, referring the India-backed amendment of the 1980s which called for devolving autonomous powers to the Tamils.
Mr Modi also assured the TNA delegation of India’s continuing support to provide relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Sri Lanka’s northeast, the former war zone where thousands have been displaced.
He said New Delhi’s focus would be on projects relating to housing, livelihood generation, capacity building, education, hospitals and infrastructure.
The statement said: “The visit of TNA leaders is part of India’s continuing engagement with the government and political parties in Sri Lanka.”
The TNA was for years considered the political front of the now vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was crushed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009, NDTV reports.
