Sun, Jun 30, 2013, 11:58 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa will leave for India this week to appraise the Indian leaders of proposed revisions to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and an adviser to him will leave for New Delhi on July 4, Press Trust of India reported citing government sources.
Minister Rajapaksa is expected to meet India's External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid and National Security Advisor Shivashankar Menon to brief on the political situation including matters relating to the proposed amendments to the 13th Amendment.
Sri Lankan parliament appointed a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to study the issue of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which was thrusted upon Sri Lanka by India during the height of the war against Tamil Tiger terrorists in 1987 as a solution to the ethnic problem.
However, after the end of the war, the campaign in Sri Lanka to repeal the provincial council system brought into existence by the 13th Amendment is growing momentum as the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance, is refusing to participate in a Parliamentary Select Committee proposed by the government to devolve power.
Several parties allied with the government have called for abolishing the Amendment and the Cabinet recently decided to appoint a PSC to discuss revisions to the 13th Amendment due to the divergent views of the coalition members.
India has expressed concern over Sri Lanka's developments to abolish or amend the 13th Amendment and following a visit to New Delhi by the TNA, which opposes any moves of the government to change the 13 A, Khurshid has stressed that Colombo should not unilaterally move against the amendment.
It has been reported that India's National Security Advisor Shivashankar Menon would visit Sri Lanka on July 8th to discuss the issue among other matters of interest.