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All-party meeting on Sri Lanka resolution ends inconclusively
Mar 20, 201311:09 PM
The all-party meeting convened by the Indian government to discuss the draft of a resolution on Sri Lanka ended inconclusively. Most parties except the DMK and Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK opposed a resolution against Sri Lanka.
Samajwadi Party (SP), which supports the government from outside, said Sri Lanka is a friendly country and Parliament should not pass a resolution against it. “We are with Lankan Tamils but there is no need for a resolution by Parliament as Lanka is the only country which stood with us during the 1962 China war,” SP leader Rewati Raman Singh.
Parties like the BJP are opposed to a resolution because they say it will be seen as interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.
“The impasse is between government and DMK and it is for them to sit together and resolve it,” BJP leader and leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said after the all-party meet.
Earlier today, the Indian government announced that it will also move amendments to the UN resolution against Sri Lanka at Geneva. The vote will take place tomorrow on the resolution which has been moved by the US.
Amendments in Geneva and a parliamentary resolution were both demanded by the DMK.
Though the government has acquiesced to both, the DMK has ruled out a reconciliation with the government. The party wanted India to urge the UN to accuse Sri Lanka of “genocide” and demand an international inquiry.
“India’s position has always been that UN should adopt a strong resolution to goad Sri Lanka to accept an independent investigation,” said Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the amendments India will seek in Geneva. But 24 of the 47 member countries of the UN Human Rights Council will have to back any changes that India wants, which is unlikely.
Meanwhile West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who quit the ruling coalition last year, has said she will back the government on whatever stand it takes at Geneva.
“We are deeply concerned about the atrocities meted out to a section of Tamil population in a foreign country,” said a statement by Ms Banerjee on Facebook page. However, she added, “Our Party follows a policy that we should not interfere into issues involving external relations with foreign countries. We leave it for the Central Government to decide on such issues.”
Agencies
