|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 16 October 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday allayed fears about a Rs 2,000-crore project to deepen the Palk Straits that is on top of the priority list of the DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu. DMK leader and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi had recently remarked that "some Sinhalese" in Sri Lanka were opposing the Sethu Samudram project that would reduce the shipping distance and time between the eastern and western coasts of India. Wickremesinghe sought to change this impression during his 45-minute meeting with the leader of the DMK - a constituent of the Congress-led coalition at the Centre - on his way home from New Delhi. The former Prime Minister said he had not heard of opposition to the Sethu Samudram project from his country. The project would not pose a threat to Colombo port, but would provide better connectivity between India's eastern and western coasts, he said after the meeting at Karunanidhi's residence at Gopalapuram. Most of the transhipment cargo from India now goes via Colombo port. The DMK accords a lot of importance to the project and believes it will boost the economic prospects of southern Tamil Nadu. However, Wickremesinghe felt that the proposed land bridge between Tamil Nadu and the northern tip of Sri Lanka - his pet project - should be taken up simultaneously with the Sethu Samudram project. The previous government at the Centre led by the BJP was in favour of the project but Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha vociferously opposed it on security grounds. She raised the possibility of the land bridge facilitating the infiltration of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Wickremesinghe said the peace process the Sri Lanka government had initiated with the Tamil Tigers was among the various issues discussed between him and Karunanidhi. The peace process should move forward and his party would support the Government if an understanding with the rebels is arrived at on the basis of the Oslo agreement, he said. The former Prime Minister said the DMK leader had expressed concern over the increased attacks off Ramanathapuram coast by the Sri Lankan navy on fishermen from Tamil Nadu. He acknowledged that the problem should immediately be resolved. The Telegraph, India October 15. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
