S Jaishankar welcomes Tamil leaders meeting with Lankan President

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has welcomed the first interaction between Sri Lankas Tamil leaders with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as positive developments saying India was consistently supportive of the realisation of their aspirations for equality justice peace and dignity within the framework of a united Sri LankaJaishankar who arrived here on Sunday night to hold bilateral talks with Sri Lankas top leadership and attend the sevennation BIMSTEC summit met the main Tamil party the Tamil National Alliance TNA delegation led by R Sampanthan and Tamil Progressive Alliance TPA leaders on MondayThe TNA delegation briefed Jaishankar of the latest developments focusing on the March 25 meeting between the Government and the TNA according to a press release issued by the High Commission of India hereThey conveyed that the issues of release of political prisoners land utilization missing persons 13th Amendment implementation and diaspora investment were discussed in the meeting with the Lankan president the release addedThe TNA and government met for talks last week for the first time since 2019The governments engagement with the TNA also came up during Jaishankars call on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on MondayThe minister received a more detailed understanding on this subject from Lankan counterpart Prof GL PeirisJaishankar welcomed in all these interactions the positive developments regarding the issues on the GovernmentTNA agenda He emphasised that the Government of India was consistently supportive of the realisation of the aspirations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka for equality justice peace and dignity within the framework of a united Sri Lanka the release saidThe contribution of Indias development partnership to economic recovery in the North and East was also recognised in all the meetings it said adding that Jaishankar expressed particular satisfaction at the virtual inauguration of the Jaffna Cultural Centre that he did along with Prime Minister Mahinda RajapaksaJaishankar had also met Tamil Progressive Alliance TPA leaders Mano Ganeshan Thigambaram V Radhakrishnan Uday Kumar and discussed the socioeconomic issues of the Indian origin Tamil community in Sri LankaOn Friday President Rajapaksa had sought cooperation from the minority Tamil community leaders to rebuild the country in his first interaction with them since assuming office over two years agoLets work together to rebuild the country President Rajapaksa told the leaders of the TNA who called on him at the Presidential Secretariat here on FridayDuring more than twohour long talks the President had pointed out that attention was paid on further steps to be taken with regard to those who are held in longterm detention release of lands that have been previously used for cultivation investigation of missing persons discussion of amendments to the new Constitution after translating into Tamil and Sinhala and the establishment of a NorthEast Development FundThe TNA wants full devolution under the 13th Amendment as the central governments have over the years shown reluctance to meet the demand for police and land powers to the provincesThe 13th Amendment provides for devolution of power to the Tamil community India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13th Amendment which was brought in after the IndoSri Lankan agreement of 1987The Sinhala majority hardliners of the ruling Sri Lanka Peoples Party SLPP have been advocating a total abolition of the islands provincial council system established in 1987On Tuesday Jaishankar met former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and apprised him of Indias economic support extended to Sri LankaHe met Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem and discussed current political and economic developments in the island nationThe minister also met Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa and exchanged views on the current situationNice to meet leader of opposition sajithpremadasa again A good discussion on IndiaSri Lanka relationship Appreciated his support for our ties Exchanged views on the current situation he tweetedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever