President Rajapaksa said today that the friendly relations between Sri Lanka and India remain very strong. India had always helped us when necessary and supported us in international fora. He was aware of the political pressures in India at the moment, especially considering the reality of coalition politics and the diverse interests that surface in such situations.
He also said that in the telephone conversation with the Indian Prime Minister there was no reference to the stopping of military operations against the terrorism of the LTTE. He [the President] had made it very clear that the operations were against the LTTE. President Rajapaksa said these were launched when the LTTE attempted to extend its hold on territory at Mavil Aru, Sampur and Muttur. They did not understand the language of negotiation. Therefore, the operations will have to be continued on behalf of the people. He had made this clear to India and the international community.
President Rajapksa added that he did not believe in duplicitous language but was very frank in what he said. The international community was not opposed to the defeat of terrorism and those who sought to break up this country.
Parliamentarian Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna Amman) said the India never supported the LTTE for a separate state but only supported them for devolution of power. He had discussed this with IPKF too. It was Prabhakaran who broke the understanding with India, resuming war and not stopping at that proceeded to kill Rajiv Gandhi in India.
He said that one could understand the Tamil people of Tamil Nadu been supportive of the Tamil people here, but this should not be support for the LTTE. If they do so they will soon face different problems in Tamil Nadu through the LTTE. He asserted that Prabakaran was not for any political solution.
Karuna Amman added that the military operations in the Wanni could not be stopped immediately. With his own experience in fighting it was his understanding that India could not bring an immediate stop to the fighting in Cargil in the Kashmir dispute. He said that if the Tamil Nadu government and political parties there wish to support the Tamil people, they could do so by sending aid to them through the Sri Lankan government.