This was decided at a meeting lasting over three hours between visiting Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here Sunday. “The talks for repatriation will begin by end of January,” MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
There are an estimated one lakh Lankan Tamil refugees in India, who had fled Lanka during the war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army. Though the war ended more than five years ago, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government ruled the north with an iron thumb, not inspiring any confidence among Lankan Tamil refugees to return.
However, since the new government under Maithripala Sirisena came to power early this month, Colombo has shown willingness to work towards “land rights”, “police powers” and “demilitarisation” in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. This has been reflected in the 100-day agenda unveiled by the Sirisena administration.
India was the first port of call for Samaraweera, five days after he took over as the foreign minister. In his talks with Swaraj, he briefed her on the new government’s policies towards Lankan Tamils.
Swaraj reportedly saw the plans as “positive”, and used the opportunity to raise the issue of “repatriation” of Lankan refugees.
“India is keen that genuine political reconciliation takes place in Sri Lanka. Though these are early days for the new government, they have sent positive signals. This is a perfect opportunity to start talking about these refugees going back to their homeland,” a government source privy to the discussions between the two countries said.
Sources said preliminary talks had been held between the ousted Rajapaksa government and New Delhi on the matter a few years ago, but had not yielded any results. “There was lack of seriousness in their efforts towards political reconciliation in the last five years. This deterred the refugees to return,” a source said.
The talks between Swaraj and Samaraweera also focused on Indian development partnership and fishermen-related issues.
In fact, the Sirisena government has released the last remaining Indian fishermen from Lankan prisons, numbering 15, in a special gesture ahead of its foreign minister’s visit. Now Lanka will be working on returning 87 Indian boats.
The two sides also discussed a calendar of bilateral visits - Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been invited by Colombo, while the Lankan president is expected to visit in February.
Several pics of the Sri Lankan Foreign minister's visit are shown below.
(indianexpress)
