Krishna to push for devolution of powers during Lanka visit

India will be pushing for meaningful devolution of political powers in Sri Lanka.

With External Affairs Minister S M Krishnas upcoming five-day visit to Sri Lanka starting on Thursday,India will be pushing for meaningful devolution of political powers in the island country,even as New Delhi still considers the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) to be a real threat.

Government sources said that there is still a real threat from the LTTE forces an assessment that was done by the Indian government agencies internally.

Sources said that Krishna,as agreed during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksas visit to New Delhi in June this year,will be pushing for a meaningful devolution package,building upon the 13th Amendment in the Sri Lankan Constitution to create the necessary conditions for a lasting political settlement.

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Krishna will be co-chairing the seventh Joint Commission meeting,along with Lankan Foreign minister G L Peiris,and they will be reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral ties. The Joint Commission meeting is being held after five years,the last one having been in Colombo in 2005.

During the visit,Krishna will inaugurate Indian consulates in the Hambantota southern Sinhala-dominated city,considered to be a stronghold of Rajapaksa and another one in the Tamil-majority area of Jaffna.

The External Affairs ministry will also participate in a ceremony to begin the pilot project for construction of 1000 houses for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Northern Lanka.

As Sri Lanka and India exchange notes during visits by the Navy chiefs,both governments are also working on starting an annual defence dialogue,sources said here on Tuesday.