After his fire and brimstone speeches of the past, the supreme commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran must surely have pondered long on what he was to tell his fighting cadres in the jungles of the Wanni and his financial sponsors in world capitals this time.

In 2005, he referred to an “ … urgent and final appeal..” . In 2006, he said they are left “with no other option but an independent state...”. And in 2007, it was an appeal to the International Community and the Tamil diaspora to help his beleaguered organisation.

In the backdrop of military setbacks, the annual Heroes Day speech sounded more like a monotonous drill the leader had to go through each year, trying desperately not to sound like the repeating groove of an old gramophone. He conceded that the "The land of Tamil Eelam is confronted with an intense war as never before… the war is gathering momentum… the war is becoming intense and widespread."

"The Tamil Eelam nation does not want war" he said, adding "... we wish to stop the war and seek a peaceful resolution…". But, " Our people are not ready to trust (the) Sinhala nation again, and get cheated." The mistrust is mutual. The Government has repeatedly said that the LTTE only plays for time when it talks of a peaceful resolution, a view that the majority of the country espouse.

Thus we have a stalemate. The suffering of 'his people' the LTTE leader himself refers to will continue till the 'intense war as never before' comes to a conclusion. As much as he says that the sacrifices made by his cadres will not be in vain, so too is the view of the Government that the blood of thousands of soldiers shed in defence of the unity of the country, shall not be in vain.

The LTTE leader now asks that the 'war' be stopped. Just last year, he was to condemn the 'war and peace' approach; the stop-start; stop-start scenario that the country has witnessed for the past quarter of a century. Perpetuating the conflict is to the LTTE's benefit; not the people of Sri Lanka.

He has now, once again seen a life-line for his organisation, in the rumblings in neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, and showers praise on India. Unfortunately for the LTTE leader, his address could not have come at a worse possible time for it coincided with the siege this week of Mumbai's landmark seafront commercial district by terrorists. The Bollywood blockbuster style true-life drama cost nearly 200 lives, and as Sonia Gandhi was to say, it was not just a matter of security, it involved India's pride.

India was quick to accuse neighbouring Pakistan of encouraging cross-border terrorism that resulted in the daring albeit cowardly attack on civilians. Many in Sri Lanka can be excused if they were cynical about India's condemnation of cross-border terrorism, which they now aim not only at Pakistan, but at Bangladesh as well in the north, but ignore in the south vis-a-vis Sri Lanka.

Terrorism is terrorism, and while the Indian Central Government undoubtedly has changed its stance from actively supporting the LTTE, as it did at the beginning of the wretched insurgency, it is slow to help Sri Lanka crush it. Despite the many anti-terrorism treaties signed by India and Sri Lanka, from UN Conventions to SAARC Conventions and most recently the BIMSTEC Declaration, much of which relate to cross-border terrorism, action on the ground leaves much to be desired.

The Indian media that has made a major issue about the Mumbai terrorists coming from Pakistan is mute when India stands accused of promoting cross-border terrorism in Sri Lanka. This same media 'went to town' when an Indian technician manning the radar was wounded in the LTTE air attack on the Wanni air base. Their question being, what was an Indian doing helping what was a war against terror.

While India's 'humanitarian concerns' for the Tamils in Sri Lanka trapped by the fighting is understandable, her panacea for Sri Lanka's terrorism now is to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Already, India's Intelligence agencies are under heavy criticism. Debates have begun in India about her own Federal system; quibbling over who has police powers within the respective states under chief ministers; and her inability to create and implement a National Anti-Terror Agency that can deal with increasing reports of cross-border terrorism, the likes of which they faced this week in Mumbai.

If any good is to come of the dastardly terrorist attack on Mumbai this week, it should be India's commitment to fight cross-border terrorism in all its manifestations.