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India invited to Sri Lanka donors meet

V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO: Japan's special envoy for the Sri Lankan peace process Yasushi Akashi on Wednesday said India had been invited to attend this month's donors' conference in Tokyo.

The "soul-searching" conference is to "take stock" of the international efforts and to evaluate the efforts made by the international community.

Though invited to join the co-chairs (Japan, the U.S., E.U. and Norway), New Delhi has maintained its position of no direct role, adopted since the pull-out of the Indian Peace Keeping Force and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

"We are somewhat flexible" given New Delhi's position at donors' conference, Mr. Akashi said.

One of the reasons for India staying away from full participation at earlier conferences is that it could involve sharing the forum with the LTTE, banned as a terrorist organisation in India after the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.

The Tokyo meet would "adopt procedures" that would make India "comfortable," Mr. Akashi said.

Positive spirit

He pointed out that New Delhi had been invited to earlier donors' conference and had participated in "some sessions" of two such events.

New Delhi was considering the current invitation in a "positive spirit," he told a press conference after a five-day visit.

Mr. Akashi said: "We certainly cannot dictate what India might do at the forthcoming Tokyo meeting. We have to talk to each other on what India feels as one of the countries in the region and as to what we could do together with regard to advancing Sri Lanka's peace process."

The Tokyo conference, he said, is to "take stock of the situation and to assess where we stand where we are going where we should be going".

"The ownership of the peace process belongs entirely to the Government and the LTTE," when asked about criticism against the international community, which he said played a "supportive role" in conflict resolution.

"Unfortunately too much is expected of us. Sometimes we are unduly criticised for doing too much or too little."

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