No shift in Sri Lanka policy: India

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, AUG. 10. India said today that there was no shift in its Sri Lanka policy, and that it had always stood for a resolution of the island's ethnic conflict through political processes.

``There is certainly no shift in India's position towards Sri Lanka. We have always believed in the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka,'' the Indian Foreign Secretary, Ms. Chokila Iyer, said at a news conference today.

Responding to a question on why New Delhi had not ``condemned'' the LTTE attack on Colombo airport last month, Ms. Iyer said India ``was opposed to violence and terrorism''.

Ms. Iyer, met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, on Wednesday evening, and held a meeting with her Sri Lankan counterpart, Mr. G. Wijesiri, on Thursday. She said India was committed to the resolution of the ethnic conflict through political dialogue. Asked if New Delhi was pushing the Norwegian facilitation for talks with the LTTE, she said that India had wished the effort well. ``We support all initiatives towards this direction. Further action on this, I think, is for the Government of Sri Lanka to take.''

On the issue of the continuing arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka, Ms. Iyer said the process of releasing the fishermen held both here and in India for violating territorial waters had ``gathered momentum''. ``We are confident this process will continue. The problem is essentially humanitarian and both Governments look upon it as such,'' she said. Sri Lanka on Thursday arrested four Indian fishermen found in its waters. The arrests came barely a day after a court ordered the release of 19 fishermen arrested earlier and lodged in Jaffna prison.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Foreign Secys. fail to finalise dates for summit
Next     : PA Govt. in talks to tide over crisis