Colombo, Sep 22 (PTI) A prominent Tamil minority diaspora group on Wednesday hailed as a "progressive move" the announcement by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he will engage with the Tamil community abroad for reconciliation talks.

In a statement issued by the President's Office in Colombo during his first overseas tour to address the high-level UN General Assembly sessions in New York, Rajapaksa said that internal issues of Sri Lanka should be resolved through an internal mechanism and that the Tamil diaspora would be invited for discussions.

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“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanting to engage with the Tamil diaspora is certainly a progressive move and we welcome it,” Global Tamil Forum (GTF) spokesman Suren Surendiran said in a tweet.

Rajapaksa also told UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres that he would not hesitate to grant presidential pardon to Tamil youths who have been held over a longtime for their association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

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Rajapaksa's comments came as the UN Human Rights Council last week announced in Geneva that they are in possession of some 120,000 pieces of evidence on alleged abuses committed by Sri Lankan troops during the final phase of the conflict.

Rajapaksa, in November 2019 upon being elected President said he had been elected by the Sinhala majority and would serve their interests.

He had adopted a stance of non negotiations with the Tamil groups previously.

Surendiran, however, was skeptical on the eventuality of talks because the diaspora organisations remain proscribed by the government of Sri Lanka for their links to the LTTE.

He said it was only six months ago, in March 2021 that the Rajapaksa's government had gazetted proscribing organisations like the GTF. The GTF is considered as the main Tamil minority diaspora group.

“The GTF didn't stop its engagement with the people of Sri Lanka just because of the ill-advised action of this administration proscribing us. Even recently, we facilitated multi-million US dollars worth of medical equipment to assist in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, not just in the north and east of the country but in the entire Sri Lanka,” GTF added.

Analysts noted that Rajapaksa's stand as outlined to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was a major shift in his policy as previously he had been rigid about not wanting to engage them.

Rajapaksa as the top defense bureaucrat under his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency between 2005-15 spearheaded the military crushing of the LTTE ending their three decades-old bloody separatist campaign in 2009.

He had survived an assassination attempt carried out by the LTTE suicide bombers in 2006.

Rajapaksa advocated to work in close cooperation with the UN in another shift in his policy where in May 2020 he had said if any international body or organisation continuously targets Sri Lankan government troops using baseless allegations, “I will also not hesitate to withdraw Sri Lanka from such bodies or organisations”.

In March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution against Sri Lanka's rights record, giving the UN body a mandate to collect evidence of crimes committed during the country's brutal three decade-long civil war against the LTTE.

The resolution calls upon the Sri Lankan government to ensure prompt thorough and impartial investigation, if warranted, prosecution of all alleged crimes relating to human rights violations and serious violations of international human rights law during the country's three decade-long civil war.

The Tamil minority has welcomed the resolution.

According to the Sri Lankan government figures, over 20,000 people are missing due to various conflicts including the three-decade brutal war with Lankan Tamils in the north and east which claimed at least 100,000 lives.

The Tamils alleged that thousands were massacred during the final stages of the war that ended in 2009 when the government forces killed LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The Sri Lankan Army denies the charge, claiming it as a humanitarian operation to rid the Tamils of LTTE's control.

At the end of the civil war, the United Nations accused both sides of atrocities, especially during the conflict's final stages.

(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)