Menon and Rao in SL for talks this week

The Hindu: Two top Indian officials will visit Sri Lanka later this week to discuss, among other things, the progress in the reconciliation process in north Sri Lanka, and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Expert Panel Report on Accountability in Sri Lanka.

National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao — who have served in Sri Lanka as High Commissioners — will hold consultations with their Sri Lankan counterparts over the steps for a lasting peace in Sri Lanka, officials here said.

They will seek to impress upon Colombo that the way forward is outlined in two joint statements — one between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in May 2009, and the other, the 17 May, 2011 joint statement issued after talks between Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna, in New Delhi.

The Krishna-Peiris statement said “a devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, would contribute towards creating the necessary conditions for such reconciliation … The External Affairs Minister of India urged the expeditious implementation of measures by the Government of Sri Lanka, to ensure resettlement and genuine reconciliation, including early return of Internally Displaced Persons [IDPs] to their homes, early withdrawal of emergency regulations, investigations into allegations of human rights violations, restoration of normalcy in affected areas and redress of humanitarian concerns of the affected families.”

Menon and Rao face the uphill task of getting the Sri Lankan establishment to act on the joint statement.

The statement has been widely criticised by the Sri Lankan nationalist Opposition parties and the mainstream press since then. They have accused Professor Peiris of buckling to Indian pressure and signing the statement.

UNP wants Indo-SL talks revealed

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) yesterday called on the government to clarify to parliament the agreement reached between the governments of Sri Lanka and India during the recent visit of External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris to that country.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has told a press conference that the government had a duty to inform parliament about the agreement as a high level Indian government delegation is due to arrive in the country as a follow up to the joint statement issued during the Minister’s visit.

Attanayake queried why the government after rejecting allegations of human rights violations levelled in the Darusman Report has agreed to India inquiring into such allegations.

India’s National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao are due to arrive in Sri Lanka next week to discuss the matters outlined in the joint statement including the 13th Amendment and the UN report.