India ready to help Lanka

Pranab Dhal Samanta

NEW DELHI: With Sri Lanka raising doubts over LTTE's commitment to the peace talks and urging India to strengthen defence cooperation, New Delhi has indicated continued engagement on Sri Lanka's defence requirements with the understanding that discussions will not be brought into the public domain.

It's learnt that the issue of defence supplies came up during discussions between Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday. India has been uncomfortable with too much public debate on the issue for obvious domestic political constraints.

While Samaraweera did not specifically raise the pending comprehensive defence cooperation agreement issue, sources said he did bring up the need for continuing and strengthening defence supplies, maintaining coast guard surveillance and extending training assistance.

Samaraweera also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is slated to hold separate talks with National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

Samaraweera briefed the Indian leadership on the situation in his country after the recent spate of violence that began with the attack on the Army Chief followed by retaliatory strikes by the Lankan Air Force on select LTTE targets.

He is said to have urged India to play a bigger role in turning greater pressure from the international community on the LTTE. He explained his government's assessment that the LTTE had used the four-year-long ceasefire to strengthen itself. And the Sri Lankan Government feels that the LTTE may not be serious about the upcoming talks in Geneva.

"The Prime Minister expressed India's interest in the continued stability and prosperity of Sri Lanka," the MEA spokesperson said after Singh's meeting with Samaraweera.

He is believed to have explained to India that while Colombo was willing to land sea planes to ferry LTTE representatives from the East, LTTE had not given permission to survey the lake where the planes could be landed.

Samaraweera also reviewed the status of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations during his meeting with the PM. He sought India's support for the candidature of Jayantha Dhanapala for the post of the UN Secretary General during his meeting with Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.

The Indian Express.