India among 24 countries to vote for a US-backed UN resolution against Sri Lanka.
The Centre on Thursday bowed before the Tamil parties and voted for the US-backed and UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) approved resolution urging Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of executions, kidnappings and other abuses towards the end of its war with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) in 2009.
India’s stand is likely to have significant ramifications in the geopolitics of the region because it has sided with the US, risking the possibility of losing the island country’s support in domestic and international matters. Though 24 countries voted for the resolution, India’s friends and neighbours — Russia, Bangladesh, Maldives and China — voted for Sri Lanka.
In all probability China, which has been trying to make its military presence felt in the subcontinent, will try to cash in on this development. And Sri Lanka too might reach out to the dragon to play a critical role in the region.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh, however, said India had just followed its stand on Sri Lanka. “We do not want to infringe on the sovereignty of Sri Lanka but concerns should be expressed so that Tamil people can get justice and lead a life of dignity,” he said.
That the government had to take this step because of domestic compulsions is well known. For the DMK, which lost out to Jayalalithaa, playing the Tamil card was the best option for survival in Tamil Nadu. The party with 18 MPs had threatened “action” if the government did not vote against Sri Lanka.
The final resolution is milder in its import than the previous draft, which India had opposed. India had objected to an external human rights body that would monitor the investigations. India had been working behind the scenes with the US to tone down “objectionable portions” of the resolution. Nevertheless, India’s stand goes against the present subtle diplomatic relation between the two countries.
The central government can, however, argue that the final wordings have given Sri Lanka breathing space. It now says the UN will act “in consultation” and “in concurrence with the government of Sri Lanka”.
The government said in an official release “…as a neighbour with thousands of years of cordial relations with Lanka, with deep rooted spiritual and cultural ties, we cannot remain untouched by developments in that country. We have been bound also by a shared quest for freedom and dignity. We will continue to remain engaged with the government of Sri Lanka to take forward the process of reconciliation to secure for all its citizens a future marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect”.
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