A series of discussions were held on Monday at the South African embassy in London, with representatives from Tamil diaspora organisations including, the South African Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka (SGPJ), British Tamil Forum (BTF), United States Tamil Political Action Campaign (USTPAC), Global Tamil Forum (GTF), International Council of Eelam Tamils (ICET), National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE).
A source from the meeting said that some of the discussions were centered around actions needed to produce a conducive environment in the North-East to foster a future process to end the ethnic conflict on the island.
The South African delegation consisted of the Deputy Director General for Asia & Middle East Dr Anil Sooklal, Special Advisor to Deputy President Ms Nokukhanya Jele, Deputy Director for South Asia Mr Tielman Furter and the South African High Commissioner to the UK Mr Obed Mlaba.
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, the SGPJ General Secretary, Pregasen Padayachee said,
“We outlined the importance of bringing about a sense of normalcy to the Tamil North-East before any actual negotiation process is put in place with the Sri Lankan government to solve the ethnic conflict.”
The Deputy Minister for International Relations Nomaindiya C Mfekto met with the SGPJ earlier this month in South Africa.
The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement released on Monday said,
"One of the cornerstones of the South African Initiative in Sri Lanka is to consult with stakeholders within and external to Sri Lanka as part of South Africa’s initiatives aimed at promoting a lasting political solution, peace initiatives, truth-telling and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. This includes some members of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora"
"South African principals have also engaged South African Tamil civil society groups with Deputy Minister Mfeketo meeting representatives of South African Tamil civil society organisations on 4 May 2015 in Durban, South Africa."The meeting with the Tamil diaspora comes after Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe invited South Africa to visit Sri Lanka and share its experiences in political dialogue, negotiations, reconciliation and nation-building. The South African Deputy Minister led a technical team of experts to Sri Lanka from 23 to 27 February 2015.