In India, whether one is a Kannada, Hindi or Tamil, ‘at the end of the day’, they are all Indians and do air their concerns together, on issues related to foreign affairs, trade or defence. Such is the level of patriotism towards one’s nation – something which is quite difficult to find in Sri Lanka. In the issue of the Sri Lankan conflict, it is fascinating to learn that, in India, both the ruling party and the opposition party stand together in raising their concerns and at the same time criticising those responsible for it – again a quality that is hardly found among both the ruling and the opposition party in Sri Lanka.
Particularly in Sri Lanka, it has been the practice to oppose when one proposes The Nation had a rare opportunity to meet with two high ranking officials of both the Indian ruling multiparty National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and the opposition party – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to discuss the current conflict in the north and the protest called for by Tamil Nadu, in response to it.
Both Seshadri Chari of the BJP and Dr. Ravni Thakur from the ruling party expressed similar views. The officials were invited to participate in a one-day landmark seminar on ‘Sri Lanka-India Relations: Vision 2025’, organised by the newly established Sri Lanka-India Pragathi Sansadaya together with the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) on October 22
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