Indian MPs delegation to resolve Tamils issue

The MPs delegation led by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj kicked off their 5-day visit to Sri Lanka by meeting Foreign Minister G L Pieris during which they asserted that only a political solution that satisfies the Tamil community would resolve the problem.

The delegation, in which five members are from Tamil Nadu where the Sri Lankan Tamils issue is emotive, also stressed the need for resumption of dialogue between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil National Alliance, an umbrella group of Tamil political parties. The two sides are at loggerheads over handing over of police and land powers to provinces. The Sri Lankan Government wants a Select Parliamentary Committee to go into the issue, but the TNA is dead opposed to the proposed move. "The delegation told the Foreign Minister that the issue has to be resolved through political means. In this context, we stressed the need for implementing 13th Amendment under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord which envisages devolution of powers to north and eastern provinces," Congress MP and delegation member Manicka Tagore told PTI.