Complimenting India for taking a consistently "good position" on the Sri Lankan ethnic issue, a senior Minister of the island nation on Monday said implementation of Indo-Sri Lanka accord would help "end the feeling of isolation among Tamils in the country"."India has consistently taken a good position throughout on the ethnic issue barring some small groups in Tamil Nadu.All national parties in India have taken the same position on the matter," Sri Lankan Minister for Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Dew Gunasekara said.He also said granting of equal status to Tamil language as like Sinhala would help Tamils feel that they are not isolated in the country."The ethnic issue is a political one which should be resolved politically only," he said in an interview in Coimbatore.Gunasekara, also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, who is here to attend the CPI(M) Congress, said "if the provisions of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord as well as the 13th amendment granting equal status to Tamil language as (like) Sinhala were fully implemented it would go a long way to end the feeling of isolation among the Tamil people".Acknowledging that there was a big gap between Tamil and Sinhala societies, he said this had given rise to continued suspicion distrust and fear.Renewing the appeal to LTTE to give up arms and look for political solution, he said the militant group appeared to be not prepared to reach a solution within united Sri Lanka."I am convinced that LTTE is not prepared to abdicate its pursuit of Eelaakse-led coalition government took over last November," Gunasekara said, adding "my first cabinet paper was to implement the 13th amendus to Tamil".
