India tells Lanka to engage

Khurshid briefing the Sri Lankan media

By admin on February 12, 2014

India today urged Sri Lanka to engage with the world on the human rights issue and find a middle road which satisfies the world.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, speaking to a group of Sri Lankan journalists in New Delhi today, said that Sri Lanka cannot isolate itself from the world.

“We need to find a via media that shows the world that something is happening and that it needs time. You cannot isolate yourself. All of us are partners in the UN. We must find ways of communicating our compulsions,” he said.

He expressed the need to find creative solutions to the Sri Lankan issue while recognizing that there was a very difficult 30 year conflict in the country.

“I urge them (Sri Lankan Government) to look at possible ways to avoid hostility of people or countries that matter,” he added.

The Indian Minister also said that India will not dictate terms to Sri Lanka but only make suggestions.

“We are careful anything we say today of a definitive nature will dilute our ability to be of help to Sri Lanka. For us to be of help we should be able to say this is what Sri Lanka is doing. This is an ongoing process,” he added.

He also said he hopes the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) on the National issue will reach a solution acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka.

“We would want the PSC to draw the trust of all parties. There is a trust issue. Some are saying they will not participate,” he said.

He said that one must think of the generations to come so that there will be peace in Sri Lanka and peace in the world.

Meanwhile he also said that offering Sri Lanka on-arrival visas is still being discussed and the island has not been fully removed from that list.

Report by Easwaran Rutnam in New Delhi