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‘Indo-Lanka Accord is no longer valid’ declares Sri Lankan minister

The Indo-Lanka accord “is no longer valid” proclaimed Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security and Rajapaksa enthusiast Sarath Weerasekara this week as he once more spoke out against the devolution of powers on the island.

The accord, which stated Sri Lanka is “a multiethnic and multilingual society” and that the “Northern and Eastern provinces are areas of historic habitation of the Tamil -speaking people” led Sri Lanka to bring about the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which pledged to devolve power to a merged North-East.

Weerasekara, however, spoke out against the accord whilst addressing District Civil Security officers in Amparai, reinforcing his previous opposition to devolving powers.

“There are several conditions India should fulfil according to the accord,” he claimed. “One is to disarm the LTTE. Two is to ensure that another war will not take place in the country and three is to resettle those who lived in the north. India failed to fulfil all 3 conditions.”

Earlier this year, Weerasekara pledged to strip the 13th Amendment of clauses that would be crucial to establishing local control and provincial councils.  The 13th Amendment’s objective was to create provincial councils in Sri Lanka and enable Sinhalese and Tamil as national languages while preserving English as the link language.

The ex-navy officer emphasised that the agreement does not apply to provincial councils, as it is invalid, and that the country would not be “handed over” to anyone through the provincial council system or the constitution.

Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi told Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister that implementation of the 13th Amendment was “essential”, emphasising that it is essential for carrying forward the process of peace and reconciliation  as the two leaders met in a virtual summit in September 2020.

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