India has urged the Sri Lankan government to work towards a broader devolution that goes beyond the 13th amendment to the constitution that devolves powers to provincial councils.
India’s message to Colombo was conveyed by a high level delegation comprising National Security Advisor, M.K. Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Sri Vijay Singh, who were on a two-day visit to the island.
"The Indian delegation made it clear that they did not believe a military solution was possible," a diplomatic source close to the delegation said. "The delegation was keen that there should be a political solution."
However this should not be interpreted as India wanting the Sri Lankan government to stop its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as Sri Lanka categorically announced that no request to end the war was put forward by the visiting delegation.
The Sri Lankan Media minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane said that India did not request the government to end the military offensive against LTTE and New Delhi only sought a peaceful solution to the decades-long problem.
“Sri Lanka is maintaining a strong relationship with India. As a neighbouring country, India is requesting peace talks but it did not compel the government to stop the war,” the state-run Daily News quoted Abeywardane as saying.
In closed-door talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and top officials, Narayanan informed Rajapakse of New Delhi’s growing impatience on the slow progress made with regard to a political solution and urged the Sri Lankan government to speedily submit a viable devolution package within a united Sri Lanka to resolve the ethnic crisis.
According to local reports, the Indian delegation called on the APRC process to be fast tracked and a political solution placed on the table at the earliest. They had also stressed the importance of developing an all party consensus.
The delegation was also concerned about the hardships of the Tamils in the north due to the escalating military conflict and the impact it would have on India if there was a refugee outflow to the southern Indian state.
In addition to the slow progress of political solution, the Indian delegation also expressed their displeasure at Sri Lanka’s shift towards China and Pakistan on military matters.
Bolstered by the military support received from its Asian neighbours including India, Sri Lanka formally withdrew from a Norwegian-arranged truce in January this year and launched a military offensive to capture LTTE administered northern regions.
Tamils are unhappy with New Delhi’s silent diplomacy and point out that it is not possible to spot the dividing line between India’s limited but open military support to Colombo and the desire to prod Sri Lanka towards a negotiated settlement.
