Will aid all efforts for unity in Lanka: Modi

“Diversity calls for celebration and not confrontation. Sinhala and Tamil people and their languages existed harmoniously,” Modi told the Tamils of Indian origin in Dickoya town in the tea growing Central Province of Sri Lanka. “We need to strengthen, not separate, (these) threads of unity and harmony,” Modi told thousands of Tamils during a public rally in the presence of Lankan President Maithripala Srisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

“The Government and people of India are with you in your journey towards peace and greater prosperity,” Modi said. He announced that India would provide 10,000 additional houses in the region. India has already provided 4,000 homes. Addressing the rally, Modi said, “You and I have something in common. I have a special association with tea.” 

During his address to the Tamil community, Modi praised them saying they speak one of the oldest-surviving languages in the world and it was a matter of pride that ‘many of you also speak Sinhala’. He congratulated the Tamil community for their hard work and their contributions to the two countries. “We remember your forefathers, who undertook the journey of their life from India to then Ceylon,” he said and added that ‘in more recent times’ the Tamil community ‘gifted’ the world legendary cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan and actor M G Ramachandran.