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[Mathan]

இந்தியா இலங்கையுடன் பாதுகாப்பு உறவுகளை மேம்படுத்தும் என்று புதிய வெளியுறவு அமைச்சர் நட்வர்சிங் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

India will step up defence ties with Sri Lanka: Natwar Singh

By Amit Baruah

The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Lakshman Kadirgamar, in New Delhi on Monday. AFP

NEW DELHI, MAY 31. India will take forward defence cooperation with Sri Lanka and the alliance partners from Tamil Nadu in the Congress-led Government will be kept informed of "all these matters, including defence," the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, said today after talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Lakshman Kadirgamar.

Asked whether defence cooperation with Sri Lanka was possible with the DMK being part of the ruling alliance, Mr. Singh said the alliance partners would be fully informed of the discussions he had had. "They naturally have an interest in it. They are next door. But I don't see any difficulty or problem or hurdle in this."

Addressing a joint press conference at South Block with Mr. Kadirgamar, Mr. Singh concurred with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister that India could play a role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the island nation's war-torn areas, including humanitarian work.

On whether a defence cooperation agreement under discussion would be signed by the two countries, Mr. Singh said that Mr. Kadirgamar would be meeting the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, apart from a separate session between officials. "We will take this forward and fix the dates."

"We've had an hour's extensive discussion on matters of mutual interest, which have covered political, economic, security and trade [issues]. These discussions were, as they should be, held in a frank and free manner. Both countries attach very high importance to their bilateral relations."

"As you know, India is committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the unity of Sri Lanka in a federal system and the Prime Minister [Manmohan Singh] has said that we very much hope that a peaceful, negotiated solution will be found which will maintain the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignity of Sri Lanka and satisfy all sections of the people of Sri Lanka," Mr. Singh said in his opening remarks.

Mr. Kadirgamar, who is the first Foreign Minister to visit the country since the Congress-led Government took power, stated that India-Sri Lanka relations had now reached a point of `irreversible excellence'. Governments over the years had contributed to this, he said. He also held discussions with the new National Security Adviser, J.N. Dixit, himself a former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

Referring to the "multipartisan approach" to India within Sri Lanka, Mr. Kadirgamar said the two countries would concentrate on further improving economic cooperation, specially the comprehensive economic partnership under discussion.

Looking forward to a new era in bilateral relations, he categorically said that there had been no reference to the "very unfortunate question" of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in his discussions with Mr. Singh. "Not one word" was spoken on the issue.

Mr. Kadirgamar denied that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had placed any "condition" when its political wing leader, S.P. Thamilchelvan, said on May 26 that the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the North-East be institutionalised before talks on core issues could proceed with Colombo.

"I don't think it's correct to say that the LTTE has laid down a condition for the resumption of talks," he said, pointing out that the Tigers, in Colombo's assessment, were keen on resuming the peace talks.

As for the agenda for the talks, discussions were going on. The LTTE's ISGA proposal, submitted to the previous United National Party Government on October 31, 2003, was "on the table". Equally, other views had been expressed.

"Those are going to be matters of discussion. There's no question of take it or leave it at all. These are all matters that are going to be discussed between the parties when they meet. That's all I can say at the moment. We will have to wait and see when the talks resume, how these talks are going to proceed."

In response to a question, Mr.Kadirgamar said that a significant body of opinion in Sri Lanka wanted India to play a suitable role in evolving the peace process and reaching a final solution.

"That body of opinion exists ... it has not reached the point where I can tell you with any precision or definition what this role is going to be. It looks as though the role certainly can be a role in the field of reconstruction, rehabilitation, humanitarian work which the Indian Government has always been interested in, which all Sri Lankan Government have been interested in because we are dealing with the plight of the people of the North and the East who have been buffeted by war for 20 years," he said. The parameters of such a role would have to be discussed further.