India has no right to interfere with internal affairs; Sarath Weerasekera

Colombo (News 1st);  India has no moral right to interfere in the country's internal affairs by insisting on the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to fulfill the aspirations of Tamils in the North, said Rear Admiral (Dr.) Sarath Weerasekera, the State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government on Thursday (08). He said India failed to fulfill its obligations under a 1987 agreement to disarm separatist rebels and ensure an end to Sri Lanka's civil war. Weerasekara's comments in Parliament were in response to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request last month to Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, for the full implementation of constitutional provisions for power-sharing with Tamil minority regions. He said 50% of the Tamils in Sri Lanka are living in the South among the Sinhalese and the Muslims and questioned what would happen to the Tamils in the south of the country, is power devolution takes place in the North. The State Minister highlighted the TNA is a political arm of the LTTE, the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world which was even banned by India after the LTTE killed Rajeev Gandhi, one of the most popular Prime Ministers in mother India. On Friday (09), the State Minister further said there can never be devolution of power and only decentralized power. The power should only remain with the Center, said the State Minister adding the Provincial Council system must be subject to research in Sri Lanka, he said. He further said the Indo-Lanka accord does not apply to the present situation of Sri Lanka and reiterated India has no right to interfere in the country's internal affairs.