Against the backdrop of demands by Tamil parties that India should vote against Sri Lanka at the UN on human rights issue, government on Wednesday remained evasive on the stand it will take even as it asked Sri Lanka to treat it as a humanitarian issue rather than “a matter of ego”.
With a resolution set to be moved on Sri Lankan Tamils at the UN, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said he has asked his Lankan counterpart G.L. Peiris to work with the US and report progress if any made on the issue to arrive at a draft which is “acceptable to everybody”.
“Government will take a stand. As of now I have told my colleague Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka to engage the US. If you have moved forward (on human rights issue), you should bring that to the knowledge of the US to arrive at a consensual draft which is acceptable to everybody,” Mr. Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament.
“It is a humanitarian issue. It is not an issue on which anybody should stand on ceremony or ego. If it is possible, speak to them directly and find a suitable and acceptable draft,” he said.
His comments came against the backdrop of mounting demands by Tamil parties that India should take a tough stand against Sri Lanka and vote in favour of resolution to be moved against it.
The US is set to move a new resolution against Sri Lanka at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council for its alleged war crimes, asking the country to promote reconciliation and accountability.
The resolution will ask the government of Sri Lanka to follow through on its own commitments to its people, including implementing the constructive recommendations from the report by Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.
Keywords: Sri Lankan Tamils issue, India, Sri Lanka, U.N. resolution, Parliament session, Salman Khurshid
The US must push for an independent international war crimes and genocide investigation as the Sri Lankan is the party to the crimes and the collaborator UPA regime will never do anything meaningful.
It is high time India dont play hide and seek game with regard to Sri Lanka's brutalities against Tamils. India must support US backed resolution against Sri Lanka. We dont understand why Indian government is so hesitant to take tough stand against Sri Lanka. If India fail to take a tough stand against Sri Lanka, all the MPs from Tamil Nadu and Puduchery should resign in protest. Only tougher stand, if necessary, a military attack on Sri Lanka will deter the Sri Lankan army and its Chief, the President of Sri Lanka.
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