TNA team to discuss 13A with Indian PM

A delegation led by TNA Member of Parliament R. Sampanthan will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Salman Khurshid today. They also met the national security advisor Shivshankar Menon yesterday, the New Indian Express reported.

“The Sri Lankan Government is acting in breach of the India-Sri Lanka accord. We naturally have to turn to India and bring it to their notice,” TNA delegation member, M.A. Sumanthiran told Express.

He was referring to the Lankan Cabinet approving the proposal to modify the constitution to remove the power of the president to merge two or more provinces. A constitutional amendment bill is likely to be introduced in the Lankan Parliament today.

The other controversial proposal on the centre’s power to legislate subject under provincial councils had been referred to a parliamentary select committee. India had already made it clear to Sri Lanka that it would be opposed to any unilateral changes in the 13th Amendment, which was conveyed by a phone call by Khurshid to his counterpart G.L. Peiris. (Colombo Gazette)