India’s former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao says that the end of civil war in Sri Lanka had provided a historic opportunity for reconciliation and that India should ensure that the self-respect of Tamil minority should not be eroded.
“The Indian concerns based on Indian Ocean is not given sufficient importance in the Sri Lankan policy calculus. The pride and self-esteem of Tamil minorities have still not eroded, while the nation comprises the first wave diaspora of Sinhalese from India also,” she said.
Delivering the 22nd Sree Chithira Tirunal Memorial Lecture-2013 on ‘India in a Tough Neighbourhood’, Nirupama Rao, who was also the High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Ambassador to China and United States, stated that it is very important for India to keep China’s military capability in mind.
“While addressing bilateral issues, it is also very important to keep China’s military capability in mind. India has to be more generous to Nepal and Bangladesh, apart from developing joint maritime initiatives with Sri Lanka. Nepal has abundant water resources enough to tap 1 lakh megawatts of electricity, which is capable to make that country to have the highest per capita income in the region. But for the prevailing mistrust Nepal has for India, we were not able to take up initiatives,’’ she pointed out.
- The Hindu/ENS
