NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a virtual bilateral meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa where the former urged the latter to fully implement the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution, which grants more powers to Tamil-majority areas of the island nation.
The 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution came into being after the India-Sri Lanka peace accord of 1987. It aims to give more powers to the Tamil community, a minority in the island nation.
The Indian delegation at the summit included EAM S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. Rajapaksa was joined by Sri Lankan foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardena among others.
“Modi called on Rajapaksa’s new government to work towards realising the expectations of Tamils for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka by achieving reconciliation nurtured by implementation of the constitutional provisions,” a readout from EAM stated.
Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) Amit Narang said that the island nation’s reconciliation process also figured in the discussions along with other issues.