India’s decision to stick to the previous UPA regime’s stand not to support the inquiry by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) into Sri Lanka’s ‘war crimes’ in the last days of the civil war in 2009 is shocking, according to PMK founder S. Ramadoss.
Sri Lankan Minister for External Affairs G.L. Peiris had lengthy discussions with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Friday. After the meeting, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs told journalists that “India never took part in the voting when the U.N. took up the resolution seeking an inquiry into war crimes,” Dr. Ramadoss said. India had, in fact, voted against a clause mandating a team of experts to be deputed the island nation, he pointed out in a statement on Sunday.
The spokesperson had also stated that India’s stand was consistently clear and that it would not support the inquiry. Media reports indicated that it was communicated to the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister by Ms. Swaraj, he said.
“It is quite shocking that the BJP government had chosen to stick to the stand of the UPA government. When the UPA government chose to remain neutral during the voting on the resolution, political parties in Tamil Nadu condemned the stand,” he recalled.