Pranab meets Rajapaksa today

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa over lunch on Sunday to deliver a message of a worried United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to address the rehabilitation issue more effectively and expedite the long-pending devolution of power for the Tamils.

“Now that the war against the LTTE is over, the situation demands more attention to the rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils in the island. In my meeting with Rajapaksa, we will emphasise this issue along with other bilateral matters,” Mukherjee told Business Standard on Friday.

Even as India supported Sri Lanka’s decisive war against the LTTE a few months ago, New Delhi has been consistently keeping pressure on the Lankan government to give some power to the Tamils for self-governance. “The Constitutional amendment has taken place but nothing has so far happened on the ground. We want the Sri Lankan government to give administrative power to the Tamils in their areas of dominance,” Mukherjee said.

The finance minister will also convey the message of the Manmohan Singh government that Sri Lankan Tamils must have a rightful place in their country and the government should ensure that legitimate aspirations of minority communities, including the Tamils, is fulfilled.

“We want to prevail upon the Sri Lankan government that powers on issues like transport, education, health, roads, etc can easily be given to local Tamils and they should find representation in various government bodies in the island nation,” Mukherjee told Business Standard.