Part I: Indo-Sri Lankan Peace Accord
The Prime Minister of the Republic of India, His Excellency Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and the President of the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, Mr. J. R. Jayawardene having met at Colombo on 29 July 1987,
Attaching utmost importance to nurturing, intensifying and strengthening the traditional friendship of India and Sri Lanka and acknowledging the imperative need of resolving the ethnic problem of Sri Lanka, and the consequent violence, and for the safety, well-being and prosperity of people belonging to all communities of Sri Lanka,
Having this day entered into the following agreement to fulfil this objective,
1.1 desiring to preserve the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka;
1.2 acknowledging that Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual plural society consisting,inter-alia, of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims (Moors) and Burgers;
1.3 recognising that each ethnic group has a distinct cultural and linguistic identity which has to be carefully nurtured;
1.4 also recognising that the Northern and the Eastern provinces have been areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking peoples, who have at all times hitherto lived together in this territory with other ethnic groups;
1.5 conscious of the necessity of strengthening the forces contributing to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, and preserving its character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi- religious plural society, in which all citizens can live in equality, safety and harmony, and prosper and fulfil their aspirations;
Attaching utmost importance to nurturing, intensifying and strengthening the traditional friendship of India and Sri Lanka and acknowledging the imperative need of resolving the ethnic problem of Sri Lanka, and the consequent violence, and for the safety, well-being and prosperity of people belonging to all communities of Sri Lanka,
Having this day entered into the following agreement to fulfil this objective,
1.1 desiring to preserve the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka;
1.2 acknowledging that Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual plural society consisting,inter-alia, of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims (Moors) and Burgers;
1.3 recognising that each ethnic group has a distinct cultural and linguistic identity which has to be carefully nurtured;
1.4 also recognising that the Northern and the Eastern provinces have been areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking peoples, who have at all times hitherto lived together in this territory with other ethnic groups;
1.5 conscious of the necessity of strengthening the forces contributing to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, and preserving its character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi- religious plural society, in which all citizens can live in equality, safety and harmony, and prosper and fulfil their aspirations;