Press Briefings

Statement by EAM to the media on his visit to Sri Lanka

28/01/2009

Yesterday in the morning I told you that I will be visiting Sri Lanka. I went late evening and reached there around 2100 hrs. I had very fruitful and productive discussions with the Sri Lankan President H.E. Rajapakse.

We discussed, apart from our normal bilateral relationship, the contemporary developments in Sri Lanka after the success of Sri Lankan armed forces in liberating a large portion of territory under occupation of the terrorist organization LTTE. We made quite clear our concerns for the civilian population - around 150,000 plus - (who) are affected by the campaign.

In course of our discussions, President Rajapakse agreed to expand the safe zones and also ensure that there is no shelling, firing in the safe zone. He appealed to all concerned to allow the civilians to go to the safe zones so that food, shelter, medicine and safety could be provided to them. We also requested that international agencies like UN High Commissioner for Refugees, International Red Cross Society Committee and other international organizations engaged in the relief measures, should be allowed to visit and that Sri Lanka authorities should extend facilitation so that they can visit safely and see the circumstances with their own eyes. We further requested and President agreed to ensure that the relief material, which we are sending, reaches the persons who are affected by the impact of this conflict.

Sri Lankan President has extended an invitation to all-party Tamil delegation to visit the affected areas led by Chief Minister Dr. Karunanidhi and Ms. Jayalalitha.

We also discussed the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution which was introduced after the 1987 Rajiv Gandhi–Jayawardhene Agreement, to allow devolution of power and autonomy to the northern and eastern provinces, to meet the legitimate aspirations of the ethnic minorities of Sri Lanka. President assured me that this would be an area of his urgent attention and that he would try to explore possibilities and to improve the conditions further.

Thank you.


New Delhi
January 28, 2009