Former Foreign and Finance Minister of India, Shri
Yaswant Sinha expressed his support for the
implementation of the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution, in line with the recommendation of the
All Party Representative Committee (APRC), a Foreign
Ministry statement said. He made this observation
when he paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister
Rohitha Bogollagama at the Foreign Ministry
yesterday (April 24).
The Foreign Minister gave a detailed briefing to
Shri Yaswant Sinha on current developments in Sri
Lanka, particularly relating to the restoration of
civil administration and the democratic process in
the Eastern Province, following the clearing of the
Province of the LTTE last year.
Responding to Shri Sinha’s suggestion that for a
political settlement to be durable there should be
bipartisan consensus, Minister Bogollagama
highlighted the fact that the government itself is
composed of several parties of different ideologies.
Former Indian Foreign Minister noted that the LTTE
demand for a separate state was completely
unacceptable.
The Foreign Minister endorsed the view of Shri Sinha
that the successful implementation of the Indo-Lanka
Free Trade Agreement has paved the way for the
current negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two
countries, which upon conclusion, would further
strengthen bilateral relations.
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