Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-,

(a) whether Government has continued the stand of enforcing Thirteenth Amendment of Sri Lanka for the entire country benefiting all the nine provinces and more specifically Tamil minority dominated North, East, Central, and hilly regions;

(b) if so, whether the final recommendations in Universal Periodic Review (UPR), 2012 this point is said to be missing to the detriment of Tamils living in Sri Lanka; and

(c) if so, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI E. AHAMED)

(a) to (c) Government has called upon the Government of Sri Lanka to stand by its commitment towards pursuit of a political process through a broader dialogue with all parties including the Tamil National Alliance leading to the full implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution so as to achieve meaningful devolution of power and genuine national reconciliation.

During the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in November 2012, India, inter-alia, recalled the commitments made by Sri Lanka to the international community during the UPR 2008 and on subsequent occasions for the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment and building on it so as to achieve a meaningful devolution package and urged expeditious action to take forward the political process for early political settlement.

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