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Wednesday, Nov 05, 2008
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India’s assistance is a goodwill gesture, says Sri Lanka

B. Muralidhar Reddy

In Parliament, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama denies any secret deal

Envoy’s visit to India is reassuring
Sri Lanka open to receiving relief from any friendly country

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Tuesday refuted media speculation on a secret deal with India, and asserted that there was a clear understanding between New Delhi and Colombo on its efforts to defeat terrorism and restore democracy in the north.

In response to a question by Joseph Michael Perera (UNP) in Parliament on the recent visit to New Delhi of Basil Rajapaksa, MP, Senior Advisor to the President, Mr. Bogollagama gave details of the understanding between the two governments on various issues related to the humanitarian crisis triggered by the fighting between the forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the north.

The Minister characterised “the strong bonds of friendship and trust that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa hasforged with the political leadership of India as a manifestation of the longstanding historical ties” between the two countries.

He told the House that the successful outcome of Mr. Rajapaksa’s visit was reassuring to the people of both countries and to friends and well-wishers who desired lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

He tabled the two official communiqués issued jointly by India and Sri Lanka on October 26 in New Delhi, at the conclusion of Mr. Rajapaksa’s visit: the India-Sri Lanka Joint Press Release and the India-Sri Lanka Joint Statement on Fishing Arrangements.

Implicitly criticising interested parties who were attempting to impute an ulterior motive to the Indian government’s offer of 800 tonnes of relief materials for civilians caught up in the conflict in the north, the Minister emphasised that India had come forward with humanitarian assistance as a goodwill gesture, which reflected the friendship and spirit of good neighbourliness between the two countries.

He cautioned the general public not to be misguided by the mischievous construction given to India’s gesture of goodwill.

“We are open to receiving humanitarian assistance and relief from any other friendly country, which wishes to contribute towards the government’s efforts to keep an uninterrupted supply of goods and essential services to the civilians in the conflict-affected areas of the Wanni,” the Minister said.

Mr. Bogollagama maintained that for any political solution to be feasible, disarming the LTTE was an essential pre-requisite. “As long as the LTTE remains armed and possesses the capacity to kill innocent civilians and destabilise public order, whatever political solution that may be proposed will simply not be viable.”

Separately, the U.N. office in Sri Lanka, in a statement here, said it had dispatched another major food convoy to the Wanni region. The 29-truck World Food Programme convoy carrying 438 tonnes of food is part of a continuing humanitarian aid effort to reach an estimated 2,30,000 civilians displaced behind the lines of confrontation in the districts of Kilinochchi and Mullathivu.

This is the fourth U.N. convoy since the U.N. was forced to temporarily withdraw from the Wanni in mid-September because of fighting. The convoy will deliver food to three locations.

The U.N. said it had delivered 2,300 tonnes of food to the Wanni since the beginning of October.

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