Sri Lanka Tamil party to inform Indian officials of stalemate in talks with government

The major Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members are to visit India next month to inform the Indian government of the current stalemate in the talks between the government and the TNA.
The talks between the government and the TNA stalled last week when the discussions scheduled to take place on the 17th, 18th and 19th had to be cancelled due to the non-participation of the government delegation. TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran told ColomboPage that a TNA delegation was likely to visit India next month to meet with the government officials. "The dates have not yet been fixed, but we would be going to India to meet with the government members," he said. He noted that the TNA has not yet been officially informed by the government as to the reason for the stalemate in the talks with the government. "We have only seen various media reports," he said. The government insists on TNA to name their representatives to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to formulate reforms to devolve power to the ethnic minorities. However, the TNA maintains that the party would not make representations to the proposed parliamentary select committee (PSC) to find a political solution to the ethnic issue until a consensus is reached between the government and the TNA. According to Premachandran, the Indian government needs to be informed of the real situation with regard to the government's stance on a political solution to the ethnic. "The government has gone back on its word given to Indian External Affairs Ministry S.M. Krishna," he claims. The government's chief negotiator in the talks with TNA, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva says a political solution must be acceptable to both North and South. "All the political sources in the south should also be part of the deliberations," the Minister has told the state-run weekly newspaper The Observer in an interview. The government views the PSC as the best option to reach consensus on a political solution among all communities. Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna have also not appointed representatives to the PSC yet. However, the Minister de Silva believes the UNP will appoint their members once the TNA has done so.