SL should find political solution that benefits all: Pranab

T V Sriram
Colombo, Nov 15 (PTI) Seeking a political solution to the
Tamil issue as a sequel to the victory over LTTE (Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam), India has asked Sri Lanka to ensure
that every stakeholder gains from the settlement irrespective
of religion and ethnicity.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is
visiting Sri Lanka, said the country should also ensure that
the political solution to the ethnic problem does not come at
the cost of any particular community.
"While a military victory has been achieved, there is
also a great victory to be achieved in the political arena
when every stakeholder owns the process and gains something
from it," Mukherjee told a gathering here.
"A political settlement can only mean one thing —- a
victory for all people of Sri Lanka irrespective of their
religion, ethnicity, numbers or race," he said in his address
at the fourth Kadirgamar Memorial Lecture Saturday.
Mukherjee said it was important for all communities of
Sri Lanka to realise that a political settlement "is not a
zero-sum game".
"It need not and should not come at the cost of another,"
he said, citing India's experience of a multi-religious and
multi-cultural society.
He said through effective devolution of powers, equal
status before constitution and equal access to opportunities,
India had ensured that divisive tendencies were addressed in
an open and democratic manner. (MORE) PTI TVS
ANU



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