No sooner had the cross-party Indian delegation, led by the opposition Lok Sabha leader Sushma Swaraj, left Sri Lanka than the Sri Lankan government began refuting Indian press reports that the president had assured Swaraj of implementing the 13th Amendment and going beyond.
On Monday, the pro-government newspaper, The Island, published an article asserting that Sri Lankan government sources rejected such claims, and that the president had not given such assurances. Instead during a meeting at Temple Trees, Rajapaksa had in fact recalled how India had forced the 13th Amendment on Sri Lanka's then President, JR Jayewardene.
This is not the first time that visiting Indian diplomats have left Sri Lanka buoyed in the belief that they had secured such an assurance only to find out that this is not case.
Following a visit by India's external affairs secretary, S.M. Krishna, earlier this year, Rajapaksa said, "Oh, No! How can I make promises like that?", prompting this cartoon in the Daily Mirror.
