Wickremesinghe, who took over as president last year amid an economic crisis.
Colombo:
Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday said he is keen to settle the ethnic conflict with the minority Tamil community by the end of this year as he stressed that the cash-strapped country can only go ahead with an IMF bailout. When it is a long pending issue. Has been resolved.
Wickremesinghe, in his message to mark International Workers’ Day, said he hoped to reach an agreement by the end of this year to resolve the country’s long-standing ethnic conflict, which is affecting all Sri Lanka. With the help of the government’s commitment to policies that benefit communities. Lanka.
“The country can go ahead with the IMF program only if two conditions are met. One is that we must resolve the ethnic conflict. We are continuing our talks on this.”
“I hope to reach an agreement by the end of this year. We must not undermine any community. We must move to protect the Sinhalese majority, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and other minority groups. We must achieve must be devoted to.” Wickremesinghe insisted.
The island nation has seen a brutal three-decade-long war with Lankan Tamils in the north and east that claimed at least 100,000 lives.
Wickremesinghe, who took office last year amid an unprecedented economic crisis and political turmoil, had earlier underlined the need to fully implement the 13th amendment to the constitution to provide political autonomy to minority Tamils in the country. .
The President said in an official press release, “We have created economic stability. There is no shortage of food now. Democracy is being practiced in the country. Parliament meets without any threat. All do their work without any hindrance.” are free to do.”
The country’s Finance Minister Wickremesinghe said that in March the IMF agreed to release an economic bailout of $2.9 billion over 4 years, due to which the country was able to move forward.
“Our next task is to implement the agreement with the IMF. We will make necessary laws and restore normalcy to the economy by 2024.” Wickremesinghe stressed that Sri Lanka should strive to achieve 6-7 per cent GDP growth.
“The youth have insisted on changing the economic system. We should listen to them,” Wickremesinghe said, referring to the second condition for implementing the IMF bailout program.
13A provides for the transfer of power to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. India has been pressurizing Sri Lanka to implement 13A brought after the 1987 India-Sri Lanka accord.
4 February – Wickremesinghe’s attempt to start talks with minority Tamil political groups to achieve a reconciliation by the 75th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence did not materialize as the country grappled with an economic crisis.
Several all-party meetings held between December last year and January this year also did not yield any results.
Although provincial councils were formed and elections were held since 1988, Tamils maintain that full powers to the councils have not been devolved by the Centre.
Earlier, the Sinhalese majority strongly opposed 13A, claiming that it would lead to the creation of its own state by separating Tamil areas.
Sinhalese, mostly Buddhist, make up about 75 percent of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population while Tamils make up 15 percent.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)