Lankan minister for referendum in Kashmir

Jalil Afridi
COLOMBO: The Indian Parliamentary delegation which has been visiting Sri Lanka for the last few days and giving all sorts of weird statements about the Tamils were finally given a shut up call by the Sri Larkan Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa stating that Tamil Eelam should be created in India and not Sri Lanka because Tamils have the largest population there.
Whereas the Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy, Patali Champika Ranawaka went a step further by suggesting India that “New Delhi should hold the long overdue referendum in Kashmir which was passed as a resolution at United Nation in 1948.”
The Sri Lankan government and its public have been extremely disappointed by the Indian Parliamentary delegation visiting Sri Lanka these days with the different sorts of statements they have been giving to the media with regard to Tamils. Sri Lanka faced a 30-year long civil war resulting in the deaths of more than 70,000 of its citizens and giving statements in favour of Tamils was just like rubbing salt on the wounds of Sri Lankans.
Despite such statements the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa showed his hospitality to the Indian delegation and met them over breakfast yesterday. Although it is an open secret that Indian government during the civil war in Sri Lanka was supporting the Tamils to fight the government. In present times, all neighbours of India are annoyed with them including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and even Afghanistan accusing India of poking its nose in their internal matters.
Maldives, a neighbouring country of India which relies heavily on India with regard to its imports and which went through recent political turmoil, their new President, Muhammad Waheed Hassan was told by Indian Foreign Secretary on the day that Maldives had to pay huge amount to Indian State Bank that Maldives must pay the full amount or it should announce holding of the elections within 24 hours. The proud Maldivians used all its resources and paid back the amount the very next day.
It is high time that the Indian government realise that poking nose into internal matters of its neighbouring countries will only damage the Indian interests.