Tamil National Council urges India to back federal solution as New Delhi holds to 13th Amendment

The Tamil National Council, led by the MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, has formally appealed to India to intervene in securing a permanent political solution for Eelam Tamils, urging New Delhi to press Colombo to abandon its proposed unitary constitution in favour of a federal settlement recognising the Tamil nation and its right to self-determination.

The appeal was made in a letter handed to Indias Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during his visit to Sri Lanka, at a meeting in Colombo at which the council also raised daily problems facing Tamils, Sinhala Buddhist and military occupation of Tamil land, and what it described as planned neglect in ongoing development.

The letter states that the Sri Lankan government is currently drafting a new constitution and argues that the process must incorporate the aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people, who the council says have faced ethnic conflict and political marginalisation for decades. The TNC noted that it had previously presented its demands to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and other political leaders in the state during meetings in December 2025 and July 2026.

Referring to the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, the council argued that the agreement recognised the Northern and Eastern Provinces as the traditional areas of habitation of the Tamil people and accepted in principle that these provinces should form a single unit with powers of self-government.

The 13th Amendment and the provincial council system introduced under the accord were, however, designed within Sri Lankas unitary constitutional framework and therefore failed to deliver meaningful devolution, the council contended. Citing a 1987 Supreme Court determination, the letter argued that under a unitary state sovereignty remains concentrated in the central government, making genuine autonomy impossible.

The constitutional framework now being considered by the government, described in the letter as the "Aekiya Rajya" or unitary state constitution, would be weaker still than the 13th Amendment and would not satisfy Tamil political aspirations, the council said.

A lasting settlement, according to the letter, can be achieved only through a federal constitutional order recognising the Tamil nation, its sovereignty and its right to self-determination within a united Sri Lanka. The TNC urged India to exert diplomatic pressure on Colombo to prevent the adoption of the proposed unitary constitution and instead support a new federal constitution enabling autonomy and self-government in the North-East, arguing that Sri Lankas economic recovery depends significantly on Indian support and closer relations with Tamil Nadu, leaving New Delhi well placed to influence the process.

See the full text of the letter below.

New Delhi holds to the 13th Amendment

Misris one-day visit on 5 August took in meetings with the Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa. Indias High Commission said he held talks with leaders of Tamil political parties from the Northern and Eastern Provinces, reaffirming Indias continued commitment to the well-being of the Sri Lankan Tamil community, with discussions focused on devolution and key political developments. He met leaders of Indian Origin Tamil parties in a separate session.

Indias Ministry of External Affairs said Misri had called on Colombo to hold provincial council elections at the earliest and to fully implement the islands existing constitutional provisions for devolution, a formulation that points to the 13th Amendment rather than to the new constitutional order the TNC is seeking.

That distinction had already been made plain. Days earlier the Indian High Commissioner, Santosh Jha, received the collective of six Tamil-speaking parties at their request, saying afterwards that they had briefed him on their concerns and their engagements, including meetings with the Sri Lankan leadership. Participants reported that Jha had signalled Indias longstanding position that the 13th Amendment remains the foundation for devolution under the Indo-Lanka Accord, indicating a preference for building on the existing constitution rather than drafting a new one.

Received the collective of 6 Tamil speaking parties today at their request. They briefed me on issues of their concern and on their various engagements, including their meetings with Sri Lankan leadership. We also touched upon various India-Sri Lanka projects and other aspects of… pic.twitter.com/A9VabVUH5t

— Santosh Jha (@santjha) August 4, 2026

Provincial council elections have not been held since 2018, leaving the councils dormant for years, while the 13th Amendment has never been fully implemented, with land and police powers never transferred to the provinces.