India wants talks on wider devolution between Sri Lankan government and ethnic Tamil party
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}India has urged the Sri Lankan government and an ethnic Tamil party to resume stalled negotiations aimed at a meaningful devolution of power to resolve a decades-old ethnic problem.
India's External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid's comments Monday came after the Tamil National Alliance party swept a provincial election, seen as backing for wider regional autonomy in areas ravaged by a civil war which ended in 2009.
Kurshid says he hopes the Sri Lankan leadership that ended the war and held the elections will now "work for genuine reconciliation."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The talks stalled in 2011 when the government said it wanted a Parliamentary committee to discuss devolution rather than through talks with the TNA.
India has a major interest in the dispute because southern India is home to 60 million Tamils.