India seeks devolution of powers in Sri Lanka's Tamil areas

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Press Trust of India Colombo
Last Updated : Oct 08 2013 | 12:20 AM IST
India today sought meaningful devolution of powers by Sri Lanka and the early resumption of dialogue to facilitate "genuine reconciliation" in Tamil-inhabited areas of the country.
On his first visit here, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid raised the issue of reconciliation during his meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart G L Peiris at the Ministry of External Affairs.
During a joint news conference with Peiris, he called for "meaningful devolution" of powers to provinces, including Tamil-inhabited areas in the north.
"India has been consistent in calling for an early political settlement and national reconciliation through meaningful devolution of powers, so to ensure that all citizens of Sri Lanka, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community, would lead a life marked by equality, justice, dignity and self-respect," Khurshid said.
India hopes that the "vision and leadership that resulted in an end to armed conflict and holding of elections to the Northern Province will now be employed to work for genuine reconciliation", he added.
Noting that Sri Lanka had conveyed to the world community its commitment to move towards a political settlement based on the full implementation of the 13th Amendment on devolution of powers, Khurshid said: "We look forward to an early resumption of the dialogue process in order to address this issue in a timely manner."
"We hope that successful culmination of elections to the Northern Province will usher in a new beginning towards a better future for the people in the north," he said.
The Tamil National Alliance swept recent polls in the Northern Province, winning 30 of the 36 seats in the local council.
The two sides further said they had made "forward" movement on resolving the "very sensitive" issue of fishermen.
Two agreements were signed in the presence of Peiris and Khurshid at the Presidential Secretariat - one on the 500-MW Sampur Thermal Power Project and an MoU for technical assistance for a 10-year national plan for a trilingual Sri Lanka.
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First Published: Oct 08 2013 | 12:20 AM IST