India nudges Sri Lanka on provincial council elections, implementation of 13th amendment

India on Monday nudged Sri Lanka to hold early elections to the provincial councils in the island nation and to implement the 13th amendment to the country’s constitution for devolution of power to the local governments in its Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern Provinces.

New Delhi also subtly conveyed to the Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo as well as to the leaders of the minority Tamils of Sri Lanka about its concerns over China’s expanding footprints in the Indian Ocean island, particularly its recent move to make inroads into the northern region of the country.

After calling on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla had separate meetings with the leaders of political parties representing the minority Tamils of the Indian Ocean island – Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) and Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) in Colombo.

Shringla emphasized New Delhi’s commitment to protecting the rights of the Tamils through full implementation of the 13th amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka as well as for early convening of the Provincial Council elections in the country, the High Commission of India in Colombo posted on Twitter. The Foreign Secretary also stressed on reconciliation among all communities of Sri Lanka, where the decades-long conflict finally ended in 2009 with the government’s forces vanquishing the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The voices within the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and some other organizations supporting the party have been opposing holding elections to the provincial councils as well as implementation of the 13th amendment of the country’s Constitution. The SLPP rode on a majoritarian Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist wave to come back to power in Colombo by winning the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019 and 2020.

The 13th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was an outcome of the July 29, 1987 accord between New Delhi and Colombo. It was passed by Sri Lankan parliament in November 1987 resulting in creation of the provincial councils. The process of devolution of power to the local governments as envisaged by it remained incomplete though.

The elections to the provincial councils of Sri Lanka are long overdue. The terms of the elected provincial councils ended in 2018 and 2019.

Shringla on Monday conveyed to Rajapaksa that India would remain committed to extending support to the post-Covid-19 economic recovery of Sri Lanka. He stressed on starting works on the stalled projects funded by India in Sri Lanka. He also called on Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, apart from having a meeting with his counterpart Jayanath Colombage. He will call on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday.

He also inaugurated four projects funded by India in the housing and educational sectors of Sri Lanka on Monday.

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