NEW DELHI (NNN-ANI) -- Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, on Monday said India is inclined to support a United Nations resolution backed by the U.S. that calls on the Sri Lankan government to investigate atrocities against the Tamil minority during the country's civil war that ended in 2009.
Replying to President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil's address to a joint session of parliament last week, Dr. Singh said:"We are inclined to vote in favor of the resolution."
Dr. Singh further said that India has only seen a draft and not the final text of the U.N.resolution.
Encouraging the Sri Lankan Government to "deal with the wounds of the conflict" would be one New Delhi's "highest and most immediate priorities," he added.
Dr. Singh's statement was greeted with a thumping of desks, including by members of key ally-the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) -- which has said it would discuss the issue, including the option of withdrawing from the UPA II regime at its internal meeting on Tuesday.
Dr. Singh said his government has emphasised that there should be a "genuine process" of reconciliation to address the grievances of the ethnic Tamils and implement the recommendations of a report of a high-level committee placed before Parliament.
India has asked Sri Lanka to stand by its commitment to broaden the dialogue with political parties, including with the Tamil National Alliance to achieve forward looking and meaningful devolution of power.
Dr. Singh's statement on the Sri Lanka issue came as reports filtered in of several protests being carried out in Sri Lanka over the U.S.-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka.
The BBC reported that Council for National Unity activists marched to the Indian High Commission, the U.S. Embassy and the British High Commission calling for the resolution to be scrapped.
Colombo has described the U.N. resolution as an interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.
Protesters are scheduled to participate in a mass Adhistana Pooja", or "Prayer of Determination" at the Town Hall in Colombo.
Some 4,000 Buddhist monks, Hindu, Catholic and Islamic religious leaders are expected to take part.
Sri Lanka stays bitterly opposed to the US resolution which aims to bind the government to the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). The commission was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Colombo's answer to allegations of human rights abuses during the last phase of the military conflict with the LTTE. -- NNN-ANI
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