Parliament is the best forum to handle 13A: President

Wednesday, 9 October 2013 01:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President meets Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid over breakfast

The Sri Lankan Parliament is the best forum to address the issue of the 13th Amendment President Mahinda Rajapaksa told visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid yesterday.

President Rajapaksa told the Indian Minister that members of the Parliamentary Select Committee should engage in dialogue and come up with a solution that is in line with what the people want, the Presidential Media Unit said. Minister Khurshid met President Rajapaksa for breakfast at President’s House last morning. Commenting on the recently-concluded provincial elections in the Northern Province, Minister Khurshid commended President Rajapaksa’s stewardship in holding elections after decades and said he felt it was a very important step, the Presidential Media Unit said in a statement. The President and the Indian Minister also discussed issues that have arisen between fishermen of the two countries and it was agreed that the best way forward would be to facilitate a dialogue between fishing communities of both countries so that the fishermen themselves can find solutions to their problems. The High Commissioner of India in Colombo Y.K. Sinha accompanied Minister Khurshid. Minister of External Affairs Professor G.L. Peiris, Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Douglas Devananda, Minister of Power and Energy Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Karunatilaka Amunugama and Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in India Prasad Kariyawasam were also present.