UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA, Mar 5: India has told the UN that it is in Sri Lanka’s own interest that expectations of Tamils for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united country are fulfilled, underlining that as a friend and immediate neighbour, New Delhi has consistently called upon Colombo to fulfill its commitments on protecting the interests of the Tamils.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Geneva, Ambassador Indramani Pandey made the statement on Friday at the interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner for Human Rights report on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
He said that as its friend and immediate neighbour, India has consistently called upon Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitments on addressing the issues related to protecting the interest of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
“India believes that it is in Sri Lanka’s own interest that the expectations of Tamils in Sri Lanka for equality, justice, peace and dignity, within a united Sri Lanka, are fulfilled. This applies equally to the commitments made by the Sri Lankan Government on meaningful devolution, including through the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution,” he said.
India has insisted that it would want Sri Lanka to pursue the 13th Amendment, also known as 13A, as the tool to address the concerns of the Tamils on devolution of power.
The amendment is aimed at creating provincial councils in Sri Lanka and enable Sinhalese and Tamil as national languages while preserving English as the link language.
The amendment brought in elected councils to each of Sri Lanka’s nine provinces with a temporary merger of the north and eastern provinces which the LTTE, who led a bloody separatist campaign, called the Tamil heartland.
Pandey said that the Indian delegation has taken note of the engagement by the government of Sri Lanka with the members of the international community and other relevant organisations on various aspects of the human rights situation and reconciliation issues in Sri Lanka.
“We would like such engagements and productive and purposeful dialogue to continue among the relevant stakeholders,” he said.
Pandey said the report raises important concerns on promoting, reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
“We call upon Sri Lanka to take the necessary steps to address the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil community, including by carrying forward the process of reconciliation and the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, to ensure that the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all its citizens are fully protected,” he said. (PTI)
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