Lankan Tamils: PM puts the ball in MK's court

Reiterating the UPA government's commitment towards arriving at a political solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he was always looking forward to receive Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's views and advice on the process of genuine reconciliation to resolve the issue for once and for all through political agreement.

Replying to the letter written by the Chief Minister on July 3, the Prime Minister, in his letter dated July 9, said apart from his discussions with the Sri Lankan President last month, he had also recently received a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance members of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
"My government will certainly do all that it can to enable the Tamils in Sri Lanka to live a life of dignity and selfrespect. We will use our influence and make efforts to help in the restoration of normal life in northern and eastern Sri Lanka through rapid rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs)," the Prime Minister said and added that the Centre had already committed Rs 500 crore for this purpose. The PM also recalled that the Centre had agreed to assist in the construction of 50,000 houses for IDPs and was also trying to restore normal economic activity in these areas by augmenting infrastructure and promoting sustainable livelihood.