Delhi will mediate only if Colombo wants: Jaswant

NEW DELHI, MAY 7.The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, tonight said that India would consider playing the role of a mediator only if it was approached by the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to do so.

In an interview to a private TV channel, the Minister said India was already playing a pro-active role on the diplomatic front and was closely monitoring developments in the island nation where the LTTE's recent offensive inflicted heavy casualties on troops of the Sri Lankan army.

He again ruled out military intervention in the Jaffna peninsula to rescue over 35,000 army soldiers trapped there. The Indian Government had conveyed to Colombo that there was no question of going there as the IPKF went in the 1980s, he said, adding that India was in favour of the resolution of the ethnic crisis within the territorial integrity and unity of Sri Lanka.

- UNI

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