The Hindu : Chandrika, Ranil `close to settlement'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

International

International

Chandrika, Ranil `close to settlement'

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28. The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, are "close to a settlement" on matters that divide them, the visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Tyronne Fernando, said this evening.

Addressing a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club, Mr. Fernando, however, continued to describe as "foolish" Ms. Kumaratunga's decision to take over direct charge of the Defence Ministry.

According to him, Sri Lanka and India were moving to "formalise" military procurements and the ongoing military training between the two Governments. "It will not be a mutual defence pact. There are high expectations and great fears [from the pact]," Mr. Fernando told presspersons.

Welcoming the thaw in relations between India and Pakistan, Mr. Fernando hoped that the two countries would be able to reach a "durable settlement" on issues that divided them.

On Sri Lankan affairs, he said the Ranil Wickremesinghe Government was not prepared to concede a separate State to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Tigers' proposal for an interim administration, he felt, went beyond the idea of a federal arrangement.

Arguing that it was necessary for the Prime Minister to have control over the security forces, Mr. Fernando alleged that the President's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) had essentially taken a "chauvinist" approach in the country's politics.

The peace process in Sri Lanka, he stated, needed a consensus between the two major parties — the SLFP and the ruling United National Party. "The current situation cannot go on. The LTTE are becoming the good boys," he said.

Asked about the Indian role in the peace process, Mr. Fernando said there could be no peace in Sri Lanka without India. New Delhi, he was sure, would not tolerate a separate State on its southern frontiers. "There is absolutely no case for a separate State."

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Chandrika, Ranil `close to settlement'