India favours reconciliation in Sri Lanka: S M Krishna

Mangaloretoday/ DHNS

New Delhi, Mar 14, 2012: Notwithstanding pressure from Tamil Nadu MPs in Parliament over the position India intended to take on the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) resolution against Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said New Delhi preferred reconciliation to deepening confrontation and mistrust in Sri Lanka.

 

Krishna told both Houses of Parliament that New Delhi would firm up its stand on the US-sponsored resolution censuring Sri Lanka for its 2009 military offensive against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) only after carefully examining its implications on India’s “historically friendly relations” with Sri Lanka.

Soon after the minister’s statement in the Lok Sabha, the DMK — an ally of the Congress-led ruling UPA — staged a walkout protesting the non-committal stance on Sri Lanka, led by their senior leader T R Baalu.

AIADMK MPs trooped to the well of the House and tore copies of the minister’s statement. The CPI, too, staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha, just before the Upper House was adjourned amidst the ruckus by Tamil Nadu MPs.

“Any assertions on our part may have implications on our historically friendly relations with a neighbouring country. We would also need to examine whether our actions will actually assist in the process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka,” he said.