World News | Muraleedharan Discussed 13th Amendment Issue with Sri Lankan Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe; Expresses Wish for Successful Implementation: Official
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan held talks with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on the crucial 13th Amendment and expressed his wish for success of the legislation to grant political autonomy to the minority Tamils in the country, according to an official statement.
Colombo, Feb 5 (PTI) Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan held talks with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on the crucial 13th Amendment and expressed his wish for success of the legislation to grant political autonomy to the minority Tamils in the country, according to an official statement.
Muraleedharan, who attended Sri Lanka's 75th anniversary of Independence on Saturday, during the meeting the same evening with Wickremesinghe was also apprised about the status in the country of the implementation of the 13th Amendment.
“President Wickremesinghe and the Indian minister V Muraleedharan discussed the issue of implementing the 13 Amendment during their talks held yesterday. The talks had centered on the 13A and ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka and the Indian minister had expressed his wish for success,” said the official statement issued by the President's office.
The 13A provides for the devolution of power to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.
India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13A which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.
Recently Wickremesinghe, who took over as the president last year amidst the unprecedented economic crisis and political turmoil, said that as the head of the nation, it was his duty to implement the prevailing laws.
Wickremesinghe had initiated talks with the Tamil minority parties to try and implement the 13A introduced into Sri Lankan statutes as a direct Indian intervention in 1987.
Although provincial councils were formed and elections were held since 1988 the Tamils day full powers to the councils have not been devolved by the center.
The Sinhala majority have bitterly opposed 13A claiming it would lead to the separation of Tamil regions to form their own state.
Only last week the powerful Buddhist clergy expressed strong opposition to the move claiming it challenged the unitary nature of the country.
The President's office also said that the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, Gopal Baglay, in a ceremony had handed over 50 more buses to Wickremesinghe under 500 buses donated to improve rural public transport.
The ceremony was part of the 75th independent anniversary celebrations.
India has already delivered 165 of the 500 buses and the full quantity is to be delivered by March.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)