India and Sri Lanka must respect each other’s sovereignty: Avdhash Kaushal

Tuesday, 26 August 2014 01:49 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Indian human rights activist Prof. Avdhash Kaushal, who was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as one of the five international members to advise the Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka, has said that India and Sri Lanka must respect each other’s sovereignty.

Speaking to the Express News Service Kaushal has said that India should respect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty while trying to help the latter resolve the Tamil question. “You can talk to the Sri Lankan Government and give them advice, but you cannot ask them to behave. India and Sri Lanka must respect each other’s sovereignty,” Express quoted Kaushal as saying. “How will we in India feel if Sri Lanka calls and talks to Indian separatists?” he asked. His call for India and Lanka to respect each other sovereignty came in the context of a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sri Lankan Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in New Delhi on Saturday. “We should not add fuel to the fire, but help Sri Lanka solve the problem,” he has said. Kaushal, the Chairperson of Dehradun-based NGO Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra has said that India should not pose as the Big Brother and apply pressure on Sri Lanka but should attempt to convince Sri Lanka of India’s stand. “India should express appreciation of the progress made thus far in the implementation of the 13 Amendment on devolution of power to the provinces, and then urge the Lankans to move forward,” Kaushal said. “They cannot ask for police powers for the Northern Province,” he has said. Kaushal appealed to the Sri Lankan Tamils to forget that they came from India and consider themselves Sri Lankans now, abiding by Lanka’s laws and Constitution.