The Hindu : Front Page : ‘No peace-keeping force needed’

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Saturday, Apr 25, 2009
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‘No peace-keeping force needed’

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: The situation in Sri Lanka was grave but it did not warrant India sending a peace-keeping force there, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said here on Friday.

“It’s an evolving situation and the crisis is grave. We’ve expressed our concern especially on the humanitarian aspect. But it does not demand sending a peace-keeping force,” he said when asked whether India would do so as it had done when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.

The Indian Peace Keeping Force was sent at that time as a part of an agreement which was history now, he said. India was particularly concerned about the rightful aspirations of the Tamil minorities.

He said it was important to make a distinction between the LTTE and Tamil civilians. “Don’t mix up the combatants with the civilian victims.” “The LTTE is a banned organisation,” he said.

Mr. Sharma wanted the LTTE to allow the civilians caught in the north-eastern part of the island-nation to go wherever they wanted to.

Addressing the media at the Congress office here, the Minister said that many of the trapped civilians needed medical attention and some were critically ill.

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