Priority should be rehabilitation and rebuilding of Tamils – India

The highest priority at this time should be the rehabilitation and rebuilding of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and achieving a political settlement to their problems, India said Thursday.

“Presently, our focus should be on the welfare and well-being of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Their rehabilitation and rebuilding should be of the highest and most immediate priority. A just and fair settlement of the political problem is of utmost importance,” India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said today.

Making a Suo Motu Statement in Lok Sabha on ‘The Situation in Sri Lanka,’ the Minister said India has noted the report issued by a Panel of Experts constituted by the UN Secretary General on Accountability in Sri Lanka and observed the public reactions to the telecast of the Britain’s Channel 4 documentary titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’.

Krishna added that although the focus should be on the welfare and well-being of Sri Lanka’s Tamil community, he has stressed to his Sri Lankan counterpart, the need for an early withdrawal of emergency regulations, investigations into allegations of human rights violations, restoration of normalcy in affected areas and redress of humanitarian concerns of affected families.

The External Affairs Minister reminded the lower house of the parliament that political settlement in Sri Lanka within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, acceptable to all the communities in Sri Lanka including the Tamils is a long standing issue and Sri Lanka is going through its internal processes, including structured dialogue between the Government and representatives of Tamil parties.  “The sooner Sri Lanka can come to a political arrangement within which all the communities feel comfortable, and which works for all of them, the better,” he said.

He lauded the Sri Lankan Government’s initiative to commence a structured dialogue on pursuing a political solution for national reconciliation as well as reconstruction and development. “We will do whatever we can to support this process,” the Indian Minister promised.

Speaking of the alleged attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, the Minister told the Lok Sabha the Indian Government has conveyed to the Sri Lankan Government that the use of force could not be justified under any circumstance and that all fishermen should be treated in a humane manner.

“The Sri Lankan side, while denying that their Navy was involved, has promised to seriously investigate these incidents,” he said.

Informing the lower house on the number of each other’s fishermen arrested, Krishna said a total of 104 Sri Lankan fishermen are still in Indian custody whereas all Indian fishermen apprehended on charges of fishing related violations in Sri Lanka have been released.

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