Date:17/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/17/stories/2008121760180800.htm

Tamil Nadu

Send Pranab Mukherjee to Sri Lanka immediately: DMK

Special Correspondent

To conduct talks and implement a ceasefire

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi chairing the party’s policy implementation committee meeting in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: DMK’s senior Minister in the Union Cabinet T.R.Baalu will meet Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to press for Mr.Mukherjee’s visit to Sri Lanka, Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi said on Tuesday. He was replying to a question at the conclusion of a meeting of the High Level Policy Implementation Committee of the party here.

After a team led by Mr.Karunanidhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early this month, it was decided that Mr.Mukherjee will visit Sri Lanka to impress on the island nation the need for a ceasefire in the north, to mitigate civilian sufferings. The Committee adopted a resolution to underline the urgency of the situation and called upon the Prime Minister and the Centre to implement this as soon as possible.

Recalling the meeting between Mr.Karunanidhi and the Prime Minister, the resolution stated that Mr.Mukherjee should be sent to Sri Lanka “immediately,” to conduct appropriate talks on the issue and implement a ceasefire.

Condolence

The first resolution of the Committee was to condole the death of CPI(M) leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

The resolution described him as a person who had great respect and affection for the DMK and described his death as a huge loss for the country and the Communist movement. In other resolutions, the party condoled the death of former Prime Minister V.P.Singh and conveyed its condolences to the kin of Mumbai terror victims.