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| India calls for special effort to strengthen truce | | |
Colombo, Sep 27 India has called for 'special effort' to strengthen the already fragile ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels and to find a negotiated political settlement based on ''maximum devolution of powers.''
''We believe that today more than ever before special efforts are required to strengthen the ceasefire and work towards a devolution package that could command consensus among the major political parties, restore ethnic harmony and expeditiously address the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Sri Lankan society,''
India's Union Cabinet Minister of Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs and
Sports Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar, said here yesterday.
Mr Aiyar, a well-known front liner in the ruling Congress Party,
made these remarks while making a key note address on 'Current
situation in Asia, particularly Southern Asia' at the 47th Death
Anniversary of late Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, S W R D
Bandaranaike.
During the public lecture the Indian Minister sought to fully
defend Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Nirupama Rao,
who had been criticised by Sri Lanka's Tourism Minister Anura
Bandaranaike of dabbling in local politics.
Mr Aiyar also sought to take quotes from the Indian High
Commissioner's speech during India's Independence Day this year and
said India was ready to share its experience and expertise on the
devolution of powers.
''In Nirupama Rao, we have just about the best breed in the
Indian foreign service. She has had an outstanding career, and she
is going to one of the two most important diplomatic posting outside
India -- Beijing in China and Islamabad in Pakistan. And she is being
chosen, handpicked as it were, for Beijing,'' he said.
Reiterating India's commitment to Sri Lanka's independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity the visiting Indian Minister
said that he expected ''to discuss with President Mahinda Rajapaksa
the concept of Panchayati Raj in India as Sri Lankan leaders had
expressed interest in that concept.''
Quoting extensively from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr
Aiyar described the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri
Lanka and India as a ''huge success with win-win situation to both
the countries.''
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