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TNA tells India 'no progress' on talks

There has been "no progress" achieved during TNA-government talks, TNA delegates told India's foreign affairs minister, S.M. Krishna, during his current visit to Sri Lanka.

Calling the government's attitude, "lethargic", the TNA reportedly urged India to take an "active role" in the process of arriving at a political solution.

Speaking after the meeting, one of the TNA delegates, S Premachandran, said,

“We started a political dialogue with the government a year ago. So far, nothing concrete has happened. We informed Mr. Krishna about these matters. Also, we briefed him that the situation in the north has not improved yet. There is a heavy military presence there. There are high security zones making it unable for people to resettle.”

“The government assured India earlier that powers would be devolved beyond the 13th Amendment.  Today, they are not even ready to implement the 13th Amendment properly. They have reservations about the devolution of land and police powers to the provinces,”

"We told the visiting Minister that it is the duty of India to ask Sri Lanka to speed up action in this regard [finding a political solution]."

The leader of the TNA, R Sampanthan:

"The talks with the Indian Foreign Minister were cordial. We briefed him about the talks we have been holding with the Sri Lankan Government. We can't say that any progress has been made in the past one year and this is because of the lethargic attitude being adopted by the government here."

"We also impressed upon the Indian side that corrective steps needed to be taken if the talks have to be set on proper course."

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