The Centre on Friday rejected the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly that had asked the UPA government to stop treating Sri Lanka as a “friendly nation” and to slap sanctions on it while demanding a referendum for a separate Tamil Eelam.
“There is no question of accepting them. That is not the only state that has a stake in this. What about others? There are many other states. There are many other assemblies. The rest of India is not supporting this,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said at a TV programme.
He was asked if the Centre was rejecting the three crucial aspects of the resolution adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly on March 27.
To each of the three demands, Khurshid said a firm “no”.
“If all of India was to support, it was another matter. But if one state supports something, we are sensitive to their concerns but we do not necessarily have to (go with them),” he said.
The Assembly had adopted a resolution, moved by Chief Minister Jayalalitha, urging the Centre to take firm steps against Colombo till the “suppression” of Tamils was stopped and those responsible for “genocide and war crimes” faced a credible international probe.
The resolution came close on the heels of Jayalalitha writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying India should boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting to be held in Colombo in November this year.
Asked if Finance Minister P Chidambaram was too on board, he said: “I don’t think Chidambaram has taken a different view from anybody else in the government but Chidambaram has very strong feelings about how quickly and how effectively we can persuade Sri Lanka with the objectives that are very clear which Sri Lanka has promised to India and which India is committed to”.
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