COLOMBO: The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) on Tuesday came out strongly against the recent statement of National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan that Sri Lanka should look to India alone for its defence needs and not go to China and Pakistan. It said, "India should not return to the bad neighbour policy."

In a letter to Indian High Commissioner here Alok Prasad, JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said that in recent years his party thought that India's "bad neighbour policy" had changed and New Delhi now had a positive outlook.

The letter said: "But the recent statement of Mr. Narayanan, one-time head of Indian spy agencies, gives us to doubt that. As a sovereign nation, Sri Lanka has the full right to trade with any nation, including from where we should buy the best arms. India and Sri Lanka share a common heritage in many areas of culture.

"The JVP will always foster correct and amicable relations between our two countries but at the same time it will not shirk from its responsibility of standing for the full integrity and sovereignty of the country."

Writing on behalf of the party Politburo, Mr. Somawansa pointed out that Mr. Narayanan headed the Intelligence Bureau from 1987 to 1990.

"This was a time when after secretly arming, training and sending to Sri Lanka all the Tamil separatist groups in an indirect invasion, India forced Sri Lanka to sign with Indian gunboats outside Colombo harbour an unequal treaty, the so-called Indian Accord. Mr. Narayanan undoubtedly participated in formulating and implementing all these anti-Sri Lankan acts by the then Indian government."

The letter said this was also the time when the Indian Air Force "intruded" into Sri Lankan airspace to drop self-styled "food parcels" on Vadamarachchi at a time when the Sri Lankan government was about to "defeat" the LTTE in Jaffna peninsula.

Interference

It said: "This behaviour of India to Sri Lanka was a strong contrast to the behaviour of other countries in the region, notably Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Iran and Malaysia, who have never interfered in our internal politics.

"These policies of India have been just the opposite of correct relationships that were mooted by India herself together with other ex-colonial countries under the Panchsheel principles of non-interference in other countries."

The letter claimed that it was also no secret that in spite of its claims, India was "very reluctant" to help the island nation. "When the LTTE was to over-run the Jaffna peninsula a few years ago, India refused all our requests for help for sea transport. It is also no secret that when China was to give us under very favourable terms a 3D radar system, India interfered and dissuaded us from getting that."

The JVP's policies were for democracy, full equality for all citizens and reach the goal of elimination of the "racist and totalitarian LTTE structure."

The letter said: "Recently, our MPs have been increasingly interacting with Indian political parties, especially of the Left who have understood our principled position. A few weeks ago our delegates were well received in Tamil Nadu.

"The foreign policy of the JVP is very simple. It will side with any country, whatever their other ideological views, which support Sri Lanka to regain full sovereignty. The only country to have intruded on our sovereignty in the postcolonial period is India."

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