Source:Xinhua Published: 2012-10-16 19:59:43
Sri Lanka's main minority Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), on Tuesday said it has not reached an agreement on resuming political talks with the government.
TNA legislator Suresh Premachandran told Xinhua that there are still pending issues which need to be addressed before talks can resume with the Sri Lankan government aimed at reaching a political solution for the Tamils.
Talks between the government and the TNA have remained stalled since late last year after the government insisted that the TNA join a parliamentary process to discuss the political solution with other political parties.
The TNA refused to be part of the parliament select committee until an agreement was reached in the talks with the government.
Earlier this week there were reports the TNA will resume talks with the government after a TNA delegation had visited India and met the Indian prime minister as well as other Indian officials.
"No, that's not true. We have not decided to resume talks or take part in the parliament select committee," Premachandran said.
India had urged the TNA and the Sri Lankan government to resume dialogue in order address the root cause of a 30-year war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan military.
The rebels were defeated in 2009 and subsequently talks were initiated between the government and the TNA, mostly as a result of pressure exerted by India.
Premachandran said that during the visit to India last week, the TNA had raised concerns over the continued military occupation of civilian lands in the north of Sri Lanka despite the end of the war.
The TNA is demanding the full restoration of civil administration in the north which faces the brunt of the 30-year war.