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India attaches 'highest and most important priority' to the resettlement and rehabilitation of Tamil community in Sri Lanka and remains engaged with Colombo for achieving a "future" for them, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.
Conveying this to Dravida Munettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi who wrote to him on August 20 on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, Singh said the focus of New Delhi has been on the welfare and well-being of the Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict there.
"Their resettlement and rehabilitation have been of the highest and most important priority for our government", Singh said in his recent letter released to the media on Tuesday.
India has also conveyed to the Sri Lankan government the need for taking forward the dialogue with the political representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamils on devolution of power, the Prime Minister told Karunanaidhi, whose party is a key ally of the United Progressive Alliance.
"In this context, we remain engaged with the government of Sri Lanka for the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect", Singh said.
In his letter, Karunanidhi had demanded that India should bring a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council for bestowing rights to Sri Lankan Tamils to decide a political solution by themselves, contending that the government there has failed on this account, among other issues.