President, PM discuss talks process with Sumanthiran, report claims

COLOMBO: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Tamil National Alliance’s Jaffna MP M. A. Sumanthiran have discussed the possibility of resuming dialogue, according to a report in Tamil daily Kalai Kathir.

The president is said to have told the prime minister and the TNA MP that he would announce a date for talks soon.

According to the Tamil daily, hopes for fresh dialogue between top government leaders and the Tamil side have risen after an informal chat that took place in Parliament’s canteen on Thursday.

The report claimed that a cordial discussion ensued on Thursday when Sumanthiran, who was on a different table, walked up to a smiling prime minister and greeted him for his birthday as he was leaving the canteen. The president, who was also in the canteen, then joined the discussion while leaving the premises with his aides and ministers, the report added.

Sumanthiran has reportedly told the prime minister in his response that “we have already expressed our readiness for talks and the invitation has to come from the government.”

The president also pointed out that he held a series of discussions with Sumanthiran before the elections.