COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday pressed the case for "joint monitoring and assessment of any adverse implication" of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP).

In a written reply to Parliament, Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar described as "premature" and one that "remains in the realm of possibility" a question raised by the Jathika Hela Urumaya on seeking international legal redress in the case of environmental destruction. Mr. Kadirgamar, however, kept his country's option open by stating that countries could approach international courts as "a measure of last resort."

Mr. Kadirgamar said international conventions reflected concerns such as the impact of cross-border pollution and that some countries had "taken similar matters to international fora." "This is obviously a measure of last resort in the event of failure to resolve any issue through bilateral consultation and friendly cooperation," he said.

The SSCP has suddenly shot into the political spotlight with the JHU raising it in Parliament after Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) entered into an agreement to share international assistance for reconstruction of the tsunami-affected coastline.

The Ven. Rathana Thero asked , among other issues, if the Foreign Ministry was taking steps to go before an international court in case of "environmental destruction."

In a seven-page reply, Mr. Kadirgamar said Sri Lanka "will take all the necessary steps to safeguard the wellbeing and the interests of our people and our country." This, he said, would be in a "calibrated and graduated manner, opting first for a cooperative and consultative approach." As Colombo was currently engaged in such an exercise, "We will consider further action thereafter if and when necessary," he said.

After Sri Lanka had raised its concerns relating to the SSCP's "likely trans-frontier impact on Sri Lankan, specially in environment and livelihood areas," it was agreed that India would "facilitate continuing Indo-Sri Lanka consultations," including at the "expert technical level," to arrive at a "common understanding on the environmental concerns," Mr. Kadirgamar said.

The Sri Lankan initiative, he said, was to "build a mechanism for exchange of information and jointly assess risks through a common base of information." Such a mechanism, he said, would be "based on well-recognised principles of international law relating to the duty to have due regard to the rights of other states and to ensure that activities under the jurisdiction or control of a state are so conducted as not to cause damage by pollution to other states and their environment."

Hoping that India "would agree to a mechanism for joint monitoring" of any adverse fallout from the canal project, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had "very clearly stated" that the island-nation's "environmental concerns and possible adverse implications are receiving India's serious attention as well."

On the meeting between the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and Dr. Singh last month, Mr. Kadirgamar said: "We have to appreciate this constructive attitude and understanding shown by the Indian Prime Minister."

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