Sri Lanka's new government pledged to implement the 13th amendment to the constitution, which involves devolution of power to provinces.
Addressing parliament, which held its first session on Monday following the electoral victory of President Maithripala Sirisena, the country's prime minister, and leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremasinghe said: "We will implement the 13A within a unitary framework."
On Sunday, Mr Wickremasinghe rejected reports by the Indian news channel, NDTV, that he had agreed to "full autonomy".
NDTV had on Sunday tweeted that he had told them “in principle, we have agreed to full autonomy to Tamil areas".
However, when contacted by Sri Lanka's The Nation newspaper, Mr Wickremasinghe rejected this.
‘No, no, no...What I said was that I am for the implementation of the 13th Amendment and that I am for the unitary state,” he told the paper.
The 13th amendment, which followed the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987, has featured heavily in India-Sri Lanka relations during the previous president's reign, with Indian officials urging the Sri Lankan government to implement it in "letter and spirit".
Mr Wickremasinghe's announcement on Monday follows a visit by Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera to India at the weekend, where he met with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj.
Tamils in the North-East, have long rejected the 13th Amendment as a solution to the island's ethnic conflict.
Addressing parliament, which held its first session on Monday following the electoral victory of President Maithripala Sirisena, the country's prime minister, and leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremasinghe said: "We will implement the 13A within a unitary framework."
On Sunday, Mr Wickremasinghe rejected reports by the Indian news channel, NDTV, that he had agreed to "full autonomy".
NDTV had on Sunday tweeted that he had told them “in principle, we have agreed to full autonomy to Tamil areas".
However, when contacted by Sri Lanka's The Nation newspaper, Mr Wickremasinghe rejected this.
‘No, no, no...What I said was that I am for the implementation of the 13th Amendment and that I am for the unitary state,” he told the paper.
The 13th amendment, which followed the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987, has featured heavily in India-Sri Lanka relations during the previous president's reign, with Indian officials urging the Sri Lankan government to implement it in "letter and spirit".
Mr Wickremasinghe's announcement on Monday follows a visit by Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera to India at the weekend, where he met with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj.
Tamils in the North-East, have long rejected the 13th Amendment as a solution to the island's ethnic conflict.