New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday advocated a solution to the problem in Sri Lanka, but ruled out any direct intervention of India to resolve the ethnic crisis.
Rejecting the concept of a separate Tamil Eelam, Mukherjee said that India's position was very clear – a solution had to be found within the territorial integrity and constitutional framework.
"We have no intention of directly intervening in Sri Lanka," he told PTI after inaugurating the All India Passport officers meeting.
Earlier in the day, a group Sri Lankan Tamil MPs met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and appraised him about the deplorable conditions of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
Mukherjee appreciated the Norway-brokered peace talks between LTTE and the Sri Lankan government and wished it all success.
He said that India had decided to put on hold transporting and exporting explosives to Sri Lanka.
"Explosives are used for many purposes, including mining. But looking at the present context, it has been decided to put on hold transporting and exporting explosives," he said.
Talking about the Sri Lankan armed forces being trained in India, Mukherjee said that it was part of an ongoing process that had been taking place for a long time.
Sri Lanka, like many other countries, has sought these training facilities.
"We have institutions that train people from many countries. This is one of our strengths," he told to PTI.
Mukherjee said that India is only providing training programme and not any lethal weapons.
Comments
0 comment