‘Prabhakaran is a proclaimed offender’:

Indian PM reiterates united Sri Lanka

He emphasised that any solution to the conflict in the island nation needed to be found “within a unified Sri Lanka”.

Without taking names, the Prime Minister ridiculed Tamil Nadu politicians who have threatened to send the Indian Army to Sri Lanka to carve out an independent Tamil State.

“What is possible and what is not possible is a matter of speculation,” he said. “We are dealing with a sovereign country. It is not easy to march armies to a sovereign State.

There is a certain thing called international law. I think these are all known to all those who are making these tall promises,” he said.

When questioned of the capture of banned LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and extradite him to India to stand trial in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, he admitted that, “Prabhakaran is a proclaimed offender.”

The bold statement of the Indian PM assumes significance in the backdrop of AIADMK and its allies demanding separate State as a solution for the problems of Tamils. Even DMK had joined the bandwagon in demanding a separate State in Sri Lanka.

When it was pointed out to him that some in Tamil Nadu were glorifying the LTTE, which is outlawed in India, Prime Minister Singh said: “As far as the Government of India is concerned, the LTTE has so far been regarded as a terrorist organisation and that is the policy of the Government of India.”

He denied that the Congress-led government had not shown enough interest over the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

He said he had been “deeply concerned” over the plight of the Tamil people during the last five years he has been the Prime Minister.

The Premier said the Indian Government’s topmost concern was to provide relief and succour to the mass of Tamil civilians displaced from the truncated war zone still held by the LTTE terrorists.

Clearing the air over the Lankan-Tamil issue and its effects on the Congress-DMK alliance, Prime Minister Singh said the two parties are political partners in the State and would continue to remain so. “Congress’ alliance with DMK has stood the test of time and we will maintain it and form the Government,” Dr. Singh said. (Agencies)