Indian government rejects Tamil Nadu resolution on Sri Lanka

The Indian government today rejected the resolution passed by Tamil Nadu assembly that called for slapping sanctions against Sri Lanka and holding a referendum to create a separate Tamil Eelam in the country.
The External Affairs Minister of India Salman Khurshid flatly rejected the Tamil Nadu government resolution that had asked the Central government to stop treating Sri Lanka as a friendly nation and slap economic sanctions while demanding a referendum for a separate Tamil Eelam. In an interview to CNN-IBN Minister Khurshid said the Indian government considers the very strong feelings in Tamil Nadu and those are not entirely "out of sync with" what many people in the world think but the government believes that its negotiations, the dialogue with Sri Lanka and the effort it has made with Sri Lanka are equally important. When asked if the Centre was rejecting the three crucial aspects of the resolution - declaring the country unfriendly, slapping economic sanctions and holding a referendum- adopted by Tamil Nadu Assembly on March 27, the Minister said a firm no to each demand. "There is no question of accepting that and that is not the only state that has a stake in this. What about the other states? There are many other assemblies. The rest of India is not supporting this," the Minister said in the interview. "If all of India was supporting it, it would be another matter. But if one state supports something we are sensitive to their concerns, but we don't have to necessarily accept everything they say," he stressed. The Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution urging the Centre to slap economic embargo on Colombo till the "suppression" of Tamils was stopped and those responsible for "genocide and war crimes" faced an international probe.