India red-flags Sri Lanka’s failure to sort out Tamil issue at UN meet

India has expressed its concern over the lack of any measurable progress by the Sri Lankan government on its commitment towards reaching a political solution on the Tamil issue.

In its statement at the 51 st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, India said it has “always believed in the responsibility of States for promotion and protection of human rights and constructive international dialogue and cooperation” guided by the U.N. Charter.

“In this regard, the Indian delegation notes with concern the lack of measurable progress by Government of Sri Lanka on their commitments of a political solution to the ethnic issue — through full implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, delegation of powers to Provincial Councils and holding of Provincial Council elections at the earliest,” India said. The terms of Sri Lanka’s nine provincial councils expired about three years ago, and they have remained defunct ever since.

India said its consistent view on peace and reconciliation in the neighbouring island nation has been for a political settlement within the framework of a United Sri Lanka, ensuring justice, peace, equality and dignity for the Tamil people living in the island nation.

The Indian delegation said the current crisis in Sri Lanka has demonstrated the limitations of a debt-driven economy and the impact it has on the standard of living.

In her latest report on Sri Lanka, the U.N. Human Rights Chief said “embedded impunity for past and present human rights abuses, economic crimes and corruption was among the underlying factors that led to the country’s devastating economic crisis.

Over 13 years since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed and disappeared, survivors continue demanding justice and accountability for war-time crimes. In the post-war years, Sri Lanka’s human rights defenders have frequently flagged concerns over persisting militarisation, especially in the Tamil-majority north and east; repression, and the shrinking space for dissent.

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