India is “happy but not overtly jubilant” over the recently signed pact between Sri Lanka's two main political parties, reported the IANS news agency.
The Indian assessment is that the agreement between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) is indeed crucial, but “it needs to be watched what and where it leads to”.
“The Indian establishment feels that the SLFP-UNP pact would prove beneficial to Sri Lanka even if it results in their genuine cooperation on any of the issues covered by the agreement and not just the ethnic conflict” the IANS report said.
But, it stressed that almost all Indians underline that the pact is “just a good political beginning and that Sri Lanka's road to peace is going to be long and tortuous even with the backing of the international community”.
The report stated that the agreement would “prove to be truly path-breaking only if - and policy makers emphasize it is no small if - it helps in an ultimate resolution of an ethnic conflict that has bled Sri Lanka”.
The two-year accord covers six key areas: the ethnic question, good governance, electoral reforms, strengthening the economy, pursuing educational reforms and social development.
Since the signing of the 2002 Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement between the LTTE and the Sri Lanka government, “India has been repeatedly emphasizing to the Sri Lankan political leaders the necessity to put aside petty differences and team up on the burning ethnic issue” the report said.
It added that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Indian external affairs officials have stressed this at every interaction with Sri Lankan officials, including in Havana in September on the sidelines of the summit of non-aligned nations.
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