The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Y.K Sinha, addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association, urged Sri Lanka to work towards devolution of powers beyond the 13th amendment and a political solution to deal with international pressure.
“Our emphasis, in this context, has been to encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to take forward the process of broader dialogue and show concrete movement towards a meaningful devolution of powers, through full implementation of the 13th Amendment and going beyond," said the high commissioner.
Sinha further reiterated that India had outlined on a number of occasions, the need for steps towards genuine reconciliation, that included investigations into allegations of human rights violations, restoration of normalcy in affected areas, reduction of ‘high security zones’, satisfactorily addressing the issue of missing persons and redressed of humanitarian concerns of affected families.
“Only such a cooperative approach will pave the way for genuine reconciliation amongst communities involved,” Sinha said.
Highlighting that an estimated US$ 1.3 billion had been invested into Sri Lanka, the high commissioner went on to note significant Indian involvement in development projects in Sri Lanka.
See full oral statement here.
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