07-12-2004, 02:16 AM
India says it will keep backing Sri Lanka peace process:
New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) :
India has assured Norway it will continue to back the Oslo-brokered peace process in Sri Lanka but made it clear that it remains opposed to any break-up of the island nation.
Indian leaders also told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson here that they would not dilute the demand over the extradition of Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran but would not allow it to jeopardise the truce in Sri Lanka.
This was the first interaction between senior Norwegian officials and the new Indian government since the Congress party took power in May following national elections.
The Congress victory had fuelled speculation in Colombo that party chief Sonia Gandhi, whose husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), might take a tough stand vis-a-vis Prabhakaran.
"We basically told the Norwegians that we stand for continuing our existing Sri Lanka policy," a senior Indian official told IANS.
"At the same time we have made it very, very clear that we are opposed to any break-up of Sri Lanka. In other words, we can never accept a Tamil Eelam state in our neighbourhood.
"We also said that while we will continue our hands off policy vis-à-vis Sri Lanka, we should be in the picture if and when the contours of a final solution emerge. That is very important."
Petersen met External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh and National Security Adviser J.N. Dixit separately during his three-day visit that ended Wednesday - the same day when a suicide bomber blew up in Colombo, killing four policemen.
It was the first suicide attack in the Sri Lankan capital since a Norwegian- sponsored ceasefire went into effect in that country in February 2002, bringing an unprecedented spell of peace.
Norwegian diplomats had been eager to meet the new Indian government leaders, in particular Natwar Singh and Dixit, to know New Delhi's thinking.
Both Natwar Singh and Dixit have been closely involved with India's Sri Lanka policy in the 1980s and 1990s in different capacities, and Dixit was New Delhi's high-profile envoy in Colombo when India deployed troops in that country.
Since the withdrawal of the Indian troops in March 1990, New Delhi has stopped getting directly involved in the Tamil ethnic conflict. But it keeps a close eye on developments in the neighbouring country.
Norwegian diplomats keep New Delhi routinely informed of their discussions in Sri Lanka with both LTTE representatives and Colombo leaders.
One Indian official, however, said that while the Norwegians gave "as good a briefing as possible to us, we are aware they don't tell us everything.
"They keep back maybe two or three percent, perhaps five percent, of what they know, for whatever reasons.
"But we are not unduly bothered. We eventually come to know everything. After all, we have plenty of sources in Sri Lanka."
http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/index...ullnews&id=1726
New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) :
India has assured Norway it will continue to back the Oslo-brokered peace process in Sri Lanka but made it clear that it remains opposed to any break-up of the island nation.
Indian leaders also told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson here that they would not dilute the demand over the extradition of Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran but would not allow it to jeopardise the truce in Sri Lanka.
This was the first interaction between senior Norwegian officials and the new Indian government since the Congress party took power in May following national elections.
The Congress victory had fuelled speculation in Colombo that party chief Sonia Gandhi, whose husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), might take a tough stand vis-a-vis Prabhakaran.
"We basically told the Norwegians that we stand for continuing our existing Sri Lanka policy," a senior Indian official told IANS.
"At the same time we have made it very, very clear that we are opposed to any break-up of Sri Lanka. In other words, we can never accept a Tamil Eelam state in our neighbourhood.
"We also said that while we will continue our hands off policy vis-à-vis Sri Lanka, we should be in the picture if and when the contours of a final solution emerge. That is very important."
Petersen met External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh and National Security Adviser J.N. Dixit separately during his three-day visit that ended Wednesday - the same day when a suicide bomber blew up in Colombo, killing four policemen.
It was the first suicide attack in the Sri Lankan capital since a Norwegian- sponsored ceasefire went into effect in that country in February 2002, bringing an unprecedented spell of peace.
Norwegian diplomats had been eager to meet the new Indian government leaders, in particular Natwar Singh and Dixit, to know New Delhi's thinking.
Both Natwar Singh and Dixit have been closely involved with India's Sri Lanka policy in the 1980s and 1990s in different capacities, and Dixit was New Delhi's high-profile envoy in Colombo when India deployed troops in that country.
Since the withdrawal of the Indian troops in March 1990, New Delhi has stopped getting directly involved in the Tamil ethnic conflict. But it keeps a close eye on developments in the neighbouring country.
Norwegian diplomats keep New Delhi routinely informed of their discussions in Sri Lanka with both LTTE representatives and Colombo leaders.
One Indian official, however, said that while the Norwegians gave "as good a briefing as possible to us, we are aware they don't tell us everything.
"They keep back maybe two or three percent, perhaps five percent, of what they know, for whatever reasons.
"But we are not unduly bothered. We eventually come to know everything. After all, we have plenty of sources in Sri Lanka."
http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/index...ullnews&id=1726