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India hopes Colombo will avert constitutional crisis

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 4. India today hoped that the situation in Sri Lanka would not provoke a Constitutional crisis. In a late night reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesman expressed surprise at the sudden political development in Sri Lanka today.

A possible Constitutional crisis would impact on political stability in Sri Lanka and on the ongoing peace process, he said. "We also hope that a way can be urgently found through a political dialogue to avoid these adverse consequences," he added.

`Proposals extreme'

India sees the October 31 counter-proposals presented by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the Sri Lankan Government as "extreme".

Highly-placed Government sources told this correspondent here before the latest moves made by the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, that the LTTE counter-proposals would have to be dealt with by Colombo.

The sources said that key formulations contained in the joint statement issued by India and Sri Lanka on October 21 also had the consent of the Opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Clearly, the Indian Government is more than conscious of the differences between the Sri Lankan President and the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and made sure that the joint statement had the prior sanction of both parties.

The October 21 joint statement said India "expected" the LTTE's response to the July 2003 proposals presented by the Sri Lankan Government to be "reasonable and comprehensive".

"India would welcome a resolution of the current impasse in the peace process and an early resumption of negotiations. Any interim arrangement should be an integral part of the final settlement and should be within the framework of the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka," the joint statement added.

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