CHENNAI (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told his government's key partner DMK that he had taken up with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse the steps required for rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils in that country.
In his letter dated June 25 to DMK chief M Karunanidhi in response to the latter's objections to the reported controversial remarks of a Sri Lankan Minister relating to Tamils, Singh said he had discussed this matter also with Rajapakse.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa on Friday discussed the issue of rehabilitation of Tamils in Sri Lanka and other bilateral issues. Official sources said that while Mr. Rajapaksa detailed the steps being taken for rehabilitation, India wanted Sri Lanka to act “decisively” on arriving at a political settlement to connect the ethnic divide.
“It was a very cordial meeting. No issue was discussed at length, but India wanted to know our plans. We indicated that we want to talk to a broader spectrum of stakeholders. That is the only way to do this, to get their ideas and to build a consensus”, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris told journalists here. Rajapaksa had met the Tamil National Alliance twice and planned to meet its leader R. Sampanthan, he said.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told presspersons that India felt it was “time to act decisively to win over Tamil-speaking Sri Lankans so that their concerns were taken care of adequately”.
India had completed a survey of the Kankesanthurai port and was preparing a report for its modernisation. The paperwork for modernising the Palaly airport was over and the project to build 50,000 houses in the wartorn areas had taken off.
Sri Lanka appreciated the help extended by Indian civil society organisations in rehabilitating the war widows and providing assistance to farmers in the northern and eastern areas in sowing the fields after the end of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
During the interaction on Friday and the one held a day earlier between Krishna and Peiris, New Delhi stressed that Colombo start comprehensive opening to ensure that the minorities did not feel unloved. The meeting between Dr. Singh and Rajapaksa also touched the issue of “genuine devolution”. -NNN-PTI
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