The Indian government will hold talks with Sri Lanka on the $5.19bn project to link the island’s North-East to neighbouring Tamil Nadu by the end of October.

According to PTI, official sources said secretary-level talks between the two countries have been decided by October to take forward the project, involving the construction of a sea bridge and an under-water tunnel linking 22 km stretch between Talaimannar and Dhanushkodi.

"The officer level meeting will include apprising Sri Lanka about the developments related to implementing BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement. The pact aims at facilitating cross border movement of all types of vehicles in the region. Since there is a provision of other countries in the region joining the pact, Sri Lanka may like to consider this for further improving connectivity between the region," an official said.

India wants Sri Lanka to join the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement, which is aimed at providing seamless flow of traffic between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.

The PHU’s General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila says the proposed bridge linking Tamil Nadu with the North-East of the island would make Sri Lanka another Indian state.

The MP, part of the SLFP group in favour of Mahinda Rajapaksa, said the move would work in favour of India and that New Delhi didn’t mention that Sri Lanka would also have to pay part of the $5.2bn loan from the Asian Development Bank.

“This is clear evidence that the project if monopolised by India to solve their issues, to send their people to Sri Lanka. Just like there is a Great Wall to protect China, the Indian Ocean protects our island. If the project went ahead, our sovereignty will be destroyed. President Maithripala Sirisena will end up being a Chief Minister of one of India’s States,” Mr Gammanpila told media on Monday morning.

A Sri Lankan minister says a political solution for the Tamil people will be implemented through the proposed constitutional reforms and that the government will hold talks with Tamil parties to reach a resolution to the issue in the North-East.

Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella said once the political solution is agreed, it will be included in the constitutional reforms which will be presented to parliament for approval.

“We will seek a 2/3 majority from Parliament for this,” he said.

Mr Kiriella stated that the United National Party (UNP) decided to work with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in a national government in order to solve key national questions and that this would be difficult without majority support in parliament.

Thousands of Tamil protestors gathered in Geneva on Monday to call for an international criminal mechanism that will see justice served for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka.

Protestors from across Europe came to the United Nations Human Rights Council, as member states gathered to discuss a resolution on Sri Lanka. People had travelled from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and across Switzerland to take part in the demonstration, which drew thousands of people.

Holding Tamil Eelam flags and placards calling for an international mechanism of accountability, protestors chanted “we want justice” and “stop genocide”.

The Sri Lankan government labelled a draft United Nations Human Rights Council resolution dealing with mass atrocities on the island as “repetitive, judgemental and prescriptive” in comments made during an informal discussion on Monday.

In a written statement distributed to member states, Sri Lankan Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha said the current draft of the resolution was “imbalanced” as it was “emphasizing excessively on the criminal justice aspects”.

“My delegation is of the view that a lengthy resolution of the nature of the current draft before us which contains 24 preambular paras and 26 operative paras, which is repetitive, judgemental and prescriptive is not in keeping with the spirit of the process of reconciliation and reform that is underway in my country,” he added.

“Certain terminology used such as 'verification' is new and intrusive language,” said the statement, and added that the resolution “must also observe clear, cogent language that the people of Sri Lanka find respectful”.

The former commander of the Sri Lankan army reiterated his rejection of the OISL report, stating Sri Lankan troops did not target Tamil civilians during the final stages of the armed conflict.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told the New Indian Express that the Sri Lankan army had saved Tamil civilians. "It was the LTTE which fired on civilians trying to flee to the army-controlled lines and killed them,” said the recently promoted commander. “The Lankan armed forces on the other hand had a policy of welcoming them and providing them safe shelter."

"We were constantly telling the civilians to come out, assuring them that they will be well treated and looked after. With the result, people kept coming out," he said.

The OISL report stated that “civilians heeded the Government's call to proceed to NFZs”. It went on to state “almost immediately after their creation, the NFZs, including protected civilian objects, such as hospitals, came under sustained fire from the Sri Lankan security forces”.