Hope Lanka will understand Modi’s advice on 13th Amendment, says Naidu

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said he was hopeful the new Sri Lankan government will act upon the "advice" given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on implementation of the 13th Amendment and move forward with it to find a solution to the problems of Sri Lankan Tamils.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi (during his recent visit to the island nation) has said that we must move forward to implement the 13th Amendment (to Sri Lankan Constitution) on devolution of powers to Tamils which was agreed upon between the India-Sri Lanka pact in 1987 under former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "And that's the advice given by Narendra Modi and I only hope that Sri Lanka will understand the spirit of the advice and then try to move forward so that there is a solution to Sri Lankan Tamil community problems," Naidu told reporters here.

The 13th Amendment provides for devolution of powers in the Tamil majority Northern and Eastern provinces in the island nation. "He (Modi) has shown the way forward and we only hope the new government in Sri Lanka will understand the spirit of cooperation and take forward the constitutional amendment which was agreed upon," he said.