India invites Lankan Tamil group for talks

The talks between Lankan government and the TNA have been in a stalemate for some time now,and India is pushing both sides to resolve the deadlock and take the dialogue forward. The understanding in New Delhi is that they should convert the “progress made” in the previous talks into a “plan of action”.

The TNA says that several rounds of talks have already taken place since 2001,and resuming talks from scratch is unacceptable to them. The Lankan government has been pressing the TNA to talk to the parliamentary select committee,which the group has refused so far. Last week,Singh and Rajapaksa discussed the possibilities of resolving the deadlock. This is one of the key issues before elections are held next year in the northern province.

While Colombo is ambiguous about legitimacy of TNA,New Delhi is of the view that recent results in the eastern province have shown that the group is a “credible interlocutor”. In this context,talks with the TNA leadership will be a critical component of India’s engagement with Lankan Tamils.

Well-being of Lankan Tamils among govt priorities: PM

CHENNAI: PM Manmohan Singh has written to DMK chief M Karunanidhi,assuring that his government has accorded top priority to the welfare of the Lankan Tamils. The PM’s letter,dated September 25 — was made public on Tuesday. “The resettlement and rehabilitation of the Tamil citizens in Sri Lanka have been the highest and most important priority of our government,” the PM wrote. ENS