Thursday, December 10, 2009
U.S. impressed with progress in resettlement
From The Hindu
CHENNAI: The “threats and harassment” that members of the press continue to experience in Sri Lanka remain a “significant concern” to the United States, according to Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs. “That continues to be an important part of our dialogue,” he said, adding that the human rights situation and media freedom are an important part of the reconciliation process.
Speaking at a media roundtable here, Mr. Blake said he was “very impressed with the progress made in terms of resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the camps in Manik Farms and elsewhere.” With 1,15,000 IDPs in Manik Farms no longer under detention and the rest resettled, the U.S. would welcome the completion of the resettlement process by the end of January, as per the date set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Touching on the need for political reconciliation and devolution of power, Mr. Blake said, “I know that President Rajapaksa has said that following the national elections next year, he intends to take additional steps on political reconciliation. But he has not yet enumerated what those steps will be.”
Mr. Blake said it was important to have measures to devolve power to the provinces so that elections could be held in the Northern Province and IDPs who lived under the rule of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could “finally have the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights to vote and choose their own leaders.”
Responding to questions on intelligence sharing with India, Mr. Blake said, “Home Minister Chidambaram made a very successful visit to the United States in September, during which he had very productive meetings with a full range of counterparts in the U.S. — the Director of the FBI, the head of the CIA and the Attorney-General.” Mr. Chidambaram also discussed mega-city policing with the authorities in New York.
Mr. Blake highlighted other areas such as healthcare and education, where cooperation has crystallised since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit. He said U.S. universities welcomed opportunities to invest in and partner with Indian counterparts as more foreign investment is allowed in the Indian education sector.
CHENNAI: The “threats and harassment” that members of the press continue to experience in Sri Lanka remain a “significant concern” to the United States, according to Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs. “That continues to be an important part of our dialogue,” he said, adding that the human rights situation and media freedom are an important part of the reconciliation process.
Speaking at a media roundtable here, Mr. Blake said he was “very impressed with the progress made in terms of resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the camps in Manik Farms and elsewhere.” With 1,15,000 IDPs in Manik Farms no longer under detention and the rest resettled, the U.S. would welcome the completion of the resettlement process by the end of January, as per the date set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Touching on the need for political reconciliation and devolution of power, Mr. Blake said, “I know that President Rajapaksa has said that following the national elections next year, he intends to take additional steps on political reconciliation. But he has not yet enumerated what those steps will be.”
Mr. Blake said it was important to have measures to devolve power to the provinces so that elections could be held in the Northern Province and IDPs who lived under the rule of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could “finally have the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights to vote and choose their own leaders.”
Responding to questions on intelligence sharing with India, Mr. Blake said, “Home Minister Chidambaram made a very successful visit to the United States in September, during which he had very productive meetings with a full range of counterparts in the U.S. — the Director of the FBI, the head of the CIA and the Attorney-General.” Mr. Chidambaram also discussed mega-city policing with the authorities in New York.
Mr. Blake highlighted other areas such as healthcare and education, where cooperation has crystallised since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit. He said U.S. universities welcomed opportunities to invest in and partner with Indian counterparts as more foreign investment is allowed in the Indian education sector.
Labels: IDPs, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manik Farms, Manmohan Singh, mega-city policing, P. Chidambaram, Robert Blake, Sri Lanka, U.S.
# posted by Narayan Lakshman @ 8:09 PM 
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