Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon will visit Sri-Lanka on July 8-9. During his two-day visit, he is expected to meet the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and leaders of Sri Lanka’s opposition parties – the United National Party(UNP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).
Menon and Rajapaksa are expected to discuss developments concerning the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. Discussions on dilution of provisions of the 13th Amendment, the Northern Provincial Council elections, and the Commonwealth Summit to be held in November are also expected to be on the agenda for the meeting. Menon’s meetings with leaders of the opposition parties will also involve discussions on the 13th Amendment.
He is also expected to hold talks with his Sri Lankan and Maldivian counterparts for finalising a framework agreement for maritime cooperation among the three nations.
India and Sri-Lanka share strong bilateral, historic and cultural relations. The 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution was enacted by the Sri Lankan government after signing the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in 1987. The agreement provided for setting up of provincial councils with the devolution of certain powers to the councils. However, it was recently reported that the Sri-Lankan government was planning to make changes to some of the key provisions of the Amendment before elections to the Northern Provincial Council in September.