Indian PM came with his normal security - FM

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Irangika Range and Sandasen Marasinghe

KOTTE: Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Parliament yesterday that no Indian Army personnel accompanied Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his security detail as claimed by the Opposition.

“Only a limited number of security personnel accompanied him which is usual when he goes overseas,” he said. The Foreign Minister made this statement in response to a question raised by Opposition MP Ravi Karunanayake with regard to the number of security personnel that accompanied the Indian Premier.

The Minister said any State leader is accompanied by a limited number of security officers when he or she visits overseas and the Indian Prime Minister has his normal security compliment.

Leader of the House, Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva stated that he denied on an earlier occasion in Parliament that 3,000 Indian soldiers would arrive in Sri Lanka with the Indian Prime Minister as his security.

He said such a large mass of Indian soldiers did not come to Sri Lanka to provide security to the Indian Prime Minister at the 15th SAARC Summit.

If such a massive number of Indian soldiers arrived it would been have the prominent, he said.

JVP member Anura Kumara Dissanayake also expressed his views on this matter.