(PTI) India today said it expected Sri Lanka to “act decisively” to achieve meaningful devolution of powers to its provinces in the backdrop of the military operation against the LTTE. In its first comments on the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), India also asked Sri Lanka to set up an “independent and credible” mechanism to probe allegations of human rights violations.
“The LLRC report has underlined that the present situation provides a great window of opportunity to forge a consensual way forward towards reconciliation through a political settlement based on devolution of power,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said. Pointing out that the LLRC report expects the Government to provide leadership to a political process, he said India hoped that Sri Lanka “recognising the critical importance of this issue acts decisively and with vision in this regard.”
Prakash also underlined the implementation of the assurances given in the LLRC report to ensure speedy resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDP) would mark a major step forward in the process of reconciliation. “Implementation of assurances to ensure speedy resettlement and genuine reconciliation, including early completion of the process of the return of IDPs and refugees to their respective homes, restoration of normal civilian life in affected areas would mark a major step forward in the process of reconciliation,” he said.
The report of the LLRC, set up against the backdrop of allegations of military excesses in the operation against the LTTE, was tabled in the Sri Lankan Parliament by the government on December 16. Welcoming the public release of the LLRC report, Prakash said India “takes note of the assurance given by the Government of Sri Lanka in Parliament about implementation of many of its recommendations.”