The leader of the Paattali Makkal Katchi, a party in the Tamil Nadu ruling coalition, urged the Indian government to work towards strengthening the draft resolution on Sri Lanka, tabled at the UNHRC this week.

The party leader, S Ramathas, stressed the need for India to strengthen the current draft resolution, and ensure that an international mechanism into war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide took place.

Several NGOs based in the UK have urged Prime Minister David Cameron to support the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry at the UN Human Rights Council.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Freedom from Torture, Redress, Minority Rights Group International, Sri Lanka Campaign and UNA-UK, said the Prime Minister should stand by his call for an international investigation, adding that little had changed since his visit in November.

The groups said issues such as torture, disappearances and sexual violence, if left unaddressed, may lead to renewed conflict and said they hoped the UK would “champion robust action” at the council.

The chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), MP Lee Scott, left for the United Nations Human Rights Council, today, to aid efforts in ensuring that an international investigation into Sri Lankan atrocities is established by the UNHRC.

Speaking to press before he left, he said,

Mihin Lanka, a state-owned airline, is projected to make a loss of over Rs2bn (£9.2mn) for 2013-14.

The Minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratna was responding to a question raised in parliament and said that the budget-airline is in debt to the tune of over Rs283mn (£1.3bn).

“Nearly five years on from the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka, I regret that the Government has failed to satisfy the Council’s call for a credible and independent investigation into allegations of serious human rights violations.”

"We, concerned individuals and organisations from around the world, urge the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to use their March 2014 session to pass a resolution that will include a commitment to an independent international investigation in the form of a commission of inquiry in Sri Lanka. Only this will help put the country on the path to justice and reconciliation."

"The current draft resolution on Sri Lanka effectively calls on the Sri Lankan government to investigate itself. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is merely entrusted with weak oversight responsibilities. What is desperately needed is an international Commission of Inquiry to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law including the alleged crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The Sri Lankan Army has launched a “well coordinated” drive to eradicate weeds in the Jaffna peninsula, reported the Civil and Military Coordination – Jaffna website.

The leader of the DMK, the largest opposition party in Tamil Nadu, described the draft UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka “disappointing” and called on India to propose a separate resolution, calling for an independent international investigation.

"The draft placed before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is overall disappointing," the party chief M Karunanidhi said in a statement.