Date:16/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/16/stories/2008091660231100.htm

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Colombo asked to ensure safety of Tamil civilians

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: India has asked Colombo to ensure the safety and security of Tamil civilians caught in the conflict between the Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants, Defence Minister A. K. Antony said here on Monday.

“We have already expressed our concern to the Lankan authorities. While taking action against the LTTE, steps should also be taken to protect the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka and ensure their safety and security,” Mr. Antony told journalists after a seminar by a defence think tank, the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies.

Following the abrogation of the 2002 ceasefire, the Sri Lankan Army has taken the offensive into LTTE-controlled areas.

At the same time, the war has led to the exodus of Tamils living in the area, some to India.

While voicing concern about the civilians caught in the conflict, the Minister identified the LTTE as a major security threat to peace and stability in the region.

“The real threats to international security would arise from states that would avoid interdependence, particularly with neighbours, and from non-state actors like the Taliban and LTTE,” he said.

Neighbours blamed

Without naming any country, the Minister blamed India’s neighbours of continuing to provide sanctuary to terrorists. Speaking in the context of a fierce gunfight near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan on Monday morning that left four security personnel dead, Mr. Antony said, “A large number of non-state armed groups have sanctuaries in our neighbouring states who use these bases and resources to carry out acts of terrorism across India. Militants are getting support from across the border and this is a fact.”

“The recent firings along the LoC are mainly infiltration attempts by militants and the armed forces are keeping a vigil,” the Minister said, adding that though the security forces had been able to foil the infiltration attempts by militants, they would have to remain alert in the next few months.

On the Delhi bomb blasts, he said: “This is a matter of serious concern,” but he did not wish to add to what Home Minister Shivraj Patil had observed.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Antony said the armed forces were ready to contribute to regional and global peace efforts but indicated that this would be under the aegis of the United Nations.