March 5- In a couple of weeks from now, the world will sit together at the United Nations Human Rights Council meet and vote on a US resolution on Sri Lanka. The resolution pertains to the alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan army during the fag end of the island nation’s civil war. Domestic pressure is mounting on the UPA with the DMK and AIADMK both accusing the government of not doing enough for Sri Lankan Tamils. In this backdrop, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be meeting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Nay Pyi Taw, Mayanmar on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit.
All eyes are keenly trained on the crucial bilateral meeting that takes place at 10.30 IST on Tuesday. The Indian side is not ruling out the possibility that the Sri Lankan President will seek clarity from India on where it stands. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who too is present in Nay Pyi Taw for the BIMSTEC summit, said that India wants to push Sri Lankan further on the 13th amendment and implementation of LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission).
However, there was no word from India on which way it will vote. Top government sources as well as the foreign minister himself said that India is still unaware of the draft resolution and so a commitment either ways is difficult to make. Interestingly, it is widely believed that India had played a role last time in watering down the US resolution before voting in favour of it. However, the External Affairs Minister told Headlines Today that it would be “unfair to say that India watered down or got a harshly worded resolution framed.” He said the idea is to get as many countries in favour of a resolution and discussions to that end could have happened.
In February the DMK passed a resolution demanding that India move a separate resolution before the UNHRC seeking an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka in 2009. Sri Lanka is totally opposed to the idea of a foreign probe into what it refers to as the country’s internal matters.
Meanwhile, before heading for Nay Pyi Taw Mahindra Rajapaksa indicated that he understands India’s electoral compulsions. India had voted against Sri Lanka two consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. The resolutions both the years had sought commitments from Sri Lanka on reconciliation and rights accountability. With General Elections in India round the corner and New Delhi not entirely happy with the progress of the reconciliation process, it is not hard to guess which side India will be on.
-Indiatoday
