Monday, September 26, 2011

‘Sri Lanka needs a solution that accommodates Tamil hopes’

Return to frontpageCOLOMBO, September 26, 2011

TNA leader R.Sambandan (Centre) with Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha (Right) and Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, N.Ram, at a lecture organised by the Sri Lanka India Society in Colombo on Sunday. Photo: R.K.Radhakrishnan
The HinduTNA leader R.Sambandan (Centre) with Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha (Right) and Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, N.Ram, at a lecture organised by the Sri Lanka India Society in Colombo on
Sri Lanka needs a solution to the ethnic question, home-grown or otherwise, to accommodate the just demands and aspirations of the Tamil-speaking people within the framework of the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, said here on Sunday.Full Story>>>
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Pranab Mukherjee asks Sri Lanka for early resumption of talks with Tamils

Monday, September 26, 2011
PTI / Lalit K Jha / Monday, September 26, 2011 17:59 IST
India has asked Sri Lanka for an early resumption of talks with Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the umbrella organisation of Tamil political parties, and to resolve core political issues in a timely manner.
The issue was emphatically put forward by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, when he met his Sri Lankan counterpart Sarath Amunugama, here last week on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
"India would like to see an early resumption of the dialogue between the Sri Lankan Government and the TNA as also a more purposeful approach to the core political issues and concrete progress in a timely manner," an Indian official told PTI on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the press.
"We would like to see Sri Lanka arrive at a solution that answers substantially to the aspirations of the Tamil community for justice, peace and dignity," the senior Indian official said referring to the conversation between the two finance ministers; during which the two leaders also discussed the Indian assistance to Sri Lanka on a economic issues.
It is believed that Amunugama informed Mukherjee that Sri Lanka has completed the pilot project on completion of 1,000 houses in Northern Lanka and urged India to release the rest of the money for the construction of 50,000 houses for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which has been committed by India.
India has announced USD 125 million for the relief and rehabilitation of the IDPs in Northern and Eastern Lanka.