Courtesy of Press Information Bureau Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, left, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the 100th Indian Science Congress in Kolkata, West Bengal, in this Jan. 3, 2013 photo.India’s beleaguered governing Indian National Congress received an unexpected boost Wednesday evening when a political party that had withdrawn its support in September offered its backing - on foreign policy, at least.
The All India Trinamool Congress, headed by Mamata Banerjee, who governs the state of West Bengal, broke away from the governing coalition last year because of economic policy changes and pro-business measures the government sought to pass.
On Wednesday, however, the party said it would support the government, which is struggling to get consensus on a resolution on Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes against its ethnic Tamil minority.
This was a message posted on the Trinamool Congress’s Twitter page Wednesday evening:
“Trinamool is deeply concerned about the sentiments expressed by our Tamil brothers and sisters. We share their sentiments and are fully with them. From the beginning, on matters of external affairs, our policy has been to stand by the central government.â€
India’s government is under renewed pressure after its biggest ally, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagama, a party from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, withdrew its support, saying the coalition headed by the Indian National Congress wasn’t doing enough to hold the Sri Lankan government accountable for alleged human rights violations during the country’s 26-year civil war.
An all-party meeting was called Wednesday evening to discuss adopting a resolution in India’s Parliament on the issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment