Under pressure from political parties in Tamil Nadu, which want India to support a US resolution at United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva seeking accountability for war crimes in the last phase of the Eelam war in Sri Lanka, New Delhi is quietly working on a solution that will ensure Tamil sentiment is not hurt while maintaining healthy relations with the neighbour.
The move comes even as DMK convened an executive committee meeting on March 20 to discuss the Indian stand on Sri Lanka at UNHRC.
The Centre is consulting world powers to introduce certain amendments to the France- and Norway-backed resolution that would create a win-win situation for India and Sri Lanka. It basically plans to tweak the wording of the resolution to suit all parties involved.
Sources in the government said the wording would be such that it would assuage Indian concerns while not giving Sri Lanka an impression that it is being bulldozed by the international community on an essentially 'internal matter'.
India was also working to get the resolution, which is likely to come up for voting on March 23, adopted unanimously to convey that the world was united in its approach to Sri Lanka, the sources said.
This would put additional pressure on the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime to address the Tamil question in an unbiased, fair and time-bound manner, they said.
The UPA government, which is caught between the devil and the deep sea over the sensitive issue, is particular about not rubbing its southern maritime neighbour the wrong way, lest it embraces China even more openly and strongly.
The government has made it clear it could not support a country-specific resolution but would back an issue-based one. At the same time, it is not in a position to ignore the opinion of political parties in Tamil Nadu.
By K.S. JAYASEELAN
DC
The move comes even as DMK convened an executive committee meeting on March 20 to discuss the Indian stand on Sri Lanka at UNHRC.
The Centre is consulting world powers to introduce certain amendments to the France- and Norway-backed resolution that would create a win-win situation for India and Sri Lanka. It basically plans to tweak the wording of the resolution to suit all parties involved.
Sources in the government said the wording would be such that it would assuage Indian concerns while not giving Sri Lanka an impression that it is being bulldozed by the international community on an essentially 'internal matter'.
India was also working to get the resolution, which is likely to come up for voting on March 23, adopted unanimously to convey that the world was united in its approach to Sri Lanka, the sources said.
This would put additional pressure on the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime to address the Tamil question in an unbiased, fair and time-bound manner, they said.
The UPA government, which is caught between the devil and the deep sea over the sensitive issue, is particular about not rubbing its southern maritime neighbour the wrong way, lest it embraces China even more openly and strongly.
The government has made it clear it could not support a country-specific resolution but would back an issue-based one. At the same time, it is not in a position to ignore the opinion of political parties in Tamil Nadu.
By K.S. JAYASEELAN
DC
