Devolution of power, only way to peace

Minister of Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication P. Chandrasekaran has welcomed the Indian and British joint statement issued on January 21, urging Sri Lanka to put forward a credible devolution package as a key contribution to finding a political settlement acceptable to all communities within the framework of a United Sri Lanka.

He said so in a message that countries in the region should particularly take note of the fact that India and Britain have reaffirmed their shared conviction in the values of democracy, fundamental freedoms, pluralism, rule of law and respect for human rights as the means to tackle global challenges effectively.

The joint statement not only express the view of India and Britain but underpins the general approach and convection of the international community that there is no military solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka.

The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE should take note of this fact seriously. Unless a credible political solution is put forward, the war clouds and tensions that appear over the horizon cannot be dispensed with.

He said that the Upcountry People’s Front had been insisting for a credible devolution of power.