India wants Lanka to build on 13 th Amendment: Jaishankar

Indian Foreign Secretary Dr S Jaishankar told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R.Sampanthan here on Wednesday, that India would like Sri Lanka to build on what has already been achieved in the area of devolution of power when it drafts its new constitution.

Jaishankar was alluding to the devolution package contained in the 13 th. Constitutional Amendment which was inspired by the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.

Sampanthan, who had breakfast with Jaishankar, told Express that  that during the “free and frank” exchange of views on the recent political developments in Lanka, the Indian Foreign Secretary recalled the steps already taken in the direction of devolving power to the provinces, and suggested that Lanka should build on this rather than start from scratch.

Jaishankar was keen to know about the government’s bid to re-write the Sri Lankan constitution and the process being adopted to turn the present parliament into a Constitutional Assembly for that purpose. “It was a useful conversation,” Sampanthan said. (The New Indian Express)