Talks boost Indo-Lanka ties

Special Envoy lauds India for understanding Lankan issues:

INDIA: Senior Presidential Advisor MP Basil Rajapaksa said yesterday after talks with Indian leaders that New Delhi and Colombo were “genuine friends” and that his country would keep civilian casualties in the war against the Tigers “to the very minimum”.

MP Rajapaksa, who visited India as a special envoy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that torrential rains and flooding had affected Tamils displaced by the fighting in the North and that India had pledged to provide food and medicine for them.

He added that UN agencies would visit the war zone to assess the situation.

“Both countries are proving to be genuine friends. This is true for the people of the two countries too,” Rajapaksa told IANS, a day after meeting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other officials.

“India has really proved to be a real friend. They are friends of Sri Lanka,” said Rajapaksa.

“We found they (India) have understood very well our problems.” “We also realise that we need to do everything we can do for the safety of civilians (in the war zone). We are discussing (this issue with India),” said Rajapaksa. “We want to ensure zero civilian casualties or at least keep it to the very minimum.”

Providing a gist of his talks here, Rajapaksa told IANS: “There are certain hardships (to civilians). We agree. We want to minimise them. There are no civilians now in Kilinochchi.

They have gone deep into LTTE territory, beyond our firing range. “In Kilinochchi town, no Government office is functioning, only the hospital is operational. That too is Government controlled. All civilians have moved out. If there are some in Kilinochchi, they are LTTE cadres.”

“The whole population (in the region) is 250,000. Everyone is not an IDP. By IDPs we mean those we have to give rations to. In Mullaitivu people are still in their houses but they have no buying power. For the sake of giving rations, we call them IDPs. Only the people in Mannar and Kilinochchi districts are displaced. “Now the rains have started, there are floods. People are affected. It is our responsibility.

“We discussed this with the Indian government. They said they would send 100 tonnes of food and medicines. For distribution we will have discussions every week with the Indian high commissioner in Colombo.

Sri Lanka will have the distribution network. All UN organisations will visit the area. They will provide us information.”

Crediting New Delhi with having “very good information” about the Sri Lanka situation, Rajapaksa also said that Colombo “understands very well” why there have been vocal protests in Tamil Nadu about his country.

He referred to the problems of the Indian fishing community in passing, saying: “Fishermen don’t care for the international maritime boundary. They go where the fish is”.

Referring to the LTTE, Rajapaksa said his Government’s attempt was to “isolate from the (Tamil) people” from LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief.

“There are a few things the government is doing. Suppose if there are two fish in a bottle, we can either take the water out or the fishes out.

The government is doing both. We want to isolate them from the people. But we are not against individuals or even terrorists. We are only against terror.”

His remarks followed extensive discussions on the situation in his country with Indian officials in the wake of mass protests in Tamil Nadu demanding a ceasefire.

India has categorically ruled out the possibility of forcing a truce in Sri Lanka. Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who had flown in from Delhi to brief Karunanidhi about the latest political developments on the Lankan Tamils’ issue, told reporters after the meeting that India could not ask for a ceasefire in Lanka as it would amount to interfering in the internal affairs of another country.

“India is not a party to the ceasefire,’’ he said by way of replying to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s demand for ensuring the ceasefire.

Mukherjee said Karunanidhi had also assured him that he would not embarrass the UPA government by asking the DMK MPs, including ministers from Tamil Nadu to quit over the issue.

The External Affairs Minister said his meeting with Lankan Special Envoy Basil Rajapaksa, earlier in Delhi, had been fruitful as it had given the indication for a package to be pushed through politically by President Mahinda Rajapaksa towards ending the ethnic conflict.