India on Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to probe human rights abuses, implicitly endorsing the UN expert panel’s report, which made allegations of war crimes committed in the last stages of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers.
In a break with tradition, and despite refraining from joining international endorsements of the UN report, India "urged the expeditious implementation of measures by the government of Sri Lanka, including... investigations into allegations of human rights violations," a statement said.
The comments were included in the bilateral communique issued after talks in Delhi between the two countries' foreign ministers, SM Krishna and GL Peiris, following a visit to India by the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister.
The statement also quotes the Indian delegation as saying that Colombo should ensure the resettlement of all internally displaced people and promote "genuine reconciliation".
Peiris trashed the allegations in the UN report, telling reporters that the document was “fundamentally flawed,” the Express News Service reported.
“Any action based on it would be unfair,’’ he said. He blamed the UN panel for not identifying sources on the basis on which it came to its conclusions. “It’s a travesty of justice, ’’ he said.
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