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We are procuring arms from Pakistan: Sri Lanka envoy

New Delhi: Sri Lanka has said it was procuring arms from Pakistan to meet the challenge from the Tamil Tigers.

“We are facing a problem of terrorism against a democratically-elected legitimate State. In that situation, the government needs to procure equipment to resist that terrorism. So we are making the purchases,” Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India C. R. Jaisinghe told PTI when asked about reports that Sri Lanka was procuring arms from Pakistan.

“The arms and equipment purchases are for our internal security and they are certainly not because we perceive a threat from any external power,” he said.

Asked whether Sri Lanka wanted military supplies from India, the envoy was not specific.

He said: “we always look forward to Indian support. We have no doubt that we have the goodwill of India.”

The High Commissioner said the LTTE had been weakened and the door for a negotiated settlement was open to resolve the ethnic problem.

“They [LTTE] have been driven out of the eastern province. The dominating areas they hold in the northern region are shrinking in size.

“So the government have been very clear that the LTTE must understand that through military means, they are not going to succeed. The window for peace and discussion with the government is always kept open,” he said. — PTI

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