The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly re-assured India of its commitment to implement the 13th Amendment, stated a spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today.
Responding to a question on India’s stand on the 13th Amendment at a media briefing on Monday, spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said,
“Our stand is that any decision that has been taken by the Sri Lankan people and which their leaders have assured to us on repeated occasions (that it) should be implemented.”
“And we have been assured and re-assured by the leaders of Sri Lanka that they are committed to full implementation of the 13th Amendment and we will go by what they have told us.”
See from 42:30 onwards below.
Despite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to go beyond the 13th Amendment, Rajapaksa has repeatedly stated that he would refuse to devolve land and police powers to the Tamil North-East of the island, a key component of the amendment.
See more in our earlier post: ‘We cannot give what the TNA wants’ – Sri Lankan Minister (25 Aug 2014)
In 2012, India's then foreign affairs minister, SM Krishna met with Mahinda Rajapaksa, stating that the Sri Lankan President had agreed to implement the 13th Amendment. No sooner had he left, than Rajapaksa flatly denied ever making such a commitment.
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