The Government yesterday strongly rebutted claims by Indian leaders that Sri Lanka would stop the war against the LTTE. “There was no call by the two visiting Indian emissaries for a cessation of hostilities,” Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, told The Sunday Times.
He said the Indian emissaries – National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon – had on Friday explained to President Rajapaksa the pressure applied by Tamil Nadu on the central Government in New Delhi. The President had invited the visiting duo to fly to camps housing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the north and see for themselves. Due to non-availability of time, they could not do so, the Defence Secretary said. In view of this, the President had also briefed them on the measures taken to help IDPs, he added.
The Defence Secretary’s assertions followed claims by ruling Congress Government leaders in India that the war against the LTTE would be stopped within days.
Indias Home Minister P. Chidambaram told the media in Chennai on Friday that the two emissaries of Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh had told President Rajapaksa “the war in northeast Sri Lanka should stop at once.”
“I spoke to our envoys on their return from Colombo. I believe something good will happen. Let us wait for a day or two and see what they (Sri Lanka) do,” Minister Chidambaram said. He added that the envoys had explained to President Rajapaksa the concerns of the people of Tamil Nadu and the Indian government.
"Our two envoys have told the Sri Lankan President that it is no more a question of please or requests but India insists that this war should stop and the rehabilitation of civilians should start," Mr. Chidambaram told the media in Chennai after a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
Mr. Karunanidhi, also told reporters on the same occasion in Chennai, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had telephoned him to brief him about the trip by the special emissaries to Colombo. “I am satisfied with Mr. Chidambaram’s briefing.
He said something good will happen. I too believe that,” he said. Mr. Karunanidhi is the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (DMK), a constituent partner of the Congress-led Government in New Delhi.
The remarks by Mr. Chidambaram and Mr. Karunanidhi in the Tamil Nadu capital of Chennai came as the Sri Lanka Army was poised to re-capture anytime now the only remaining ten square kilometres under LTTE control along the Mullaitivu coast, now the No Fire Zone. It is in this area that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and other senior leaders are hiding, according to Brigadier Shavindra Silva, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army’s 58 Division.
Elsewhere, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa was quoted as saying Sri Lanka’s war on terror was an “internal matter” and that neither the United States nor Britain could dictate terms to the Sri Lankan Government. Foreign diplomats said they believed India had increased its pressure on Sri Lanka – this time making a definitive demand to stop the war – due to intense political pressure for the caretaker Congress Government during the ongoing election campaign in that country.
However, the Defence Secretary said there was no such demand. The emissaries – Mr. Narayanan and Mr. Menon – flew to Colombo on an Indian Air Force jet on Friday for a six-hour visit. They held talks with President Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Upon their return to New Delhi, Mr. Narayanan said in a statement they had expressed “Government of India’s concerns about the humanitarian situation” in the conflict zone. The statement said, “the President of Sri Lanka was receptive to our concerns” and added “we are hopeful of a positive outcome.”
The Indian National Security Advisor’s statement issued on Friday night in New Delhi said:
“We were received by the President of Sri Lanka. We conveyed the concerns of the Government of India on the evolving situation in Northern Sri Lanka, especially at the casualties caused among Tamil civilians as a result of ongoing operations.
“We also expressed the Government of India’s concerns about the humanitarian situation as a result of nearly hundred thousand Tamil civilians coming out of the conflict zone since early this week”.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a statement issued by the White House stated that the United States called on the Government of Sri Lanka “to stop shelling the safe zone” and for both the Government and the LTTE to stop fighting “immediately”.
US President Barrack Obama’s office called on the Sri Lanka Government to allow international groups and the media access to the area.
The statement from the White Office, the first formal response from the US President’s office on the situation in Sri Lanka came on Friday. Previously, the US Department of State issued almost all the statements with regard to the developments in Sri Lanka.
At the United Nations, Security Council president Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller when asked on Friday if the UN was asking for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka, said “No”, according to an Inner City Press report from New York.
Thee G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Ottawa yesterday issued a statement supporting the UN Secretary General’s decision to send a team to Sri Lanka. They also asked the LTTE to allow the civilians out and called for a cessation of hostilities.
|
E-mail