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Last Updated: Jul 31st, 2011 - 17:29:39 |
Indian government ally drops Sri Lanka resignation threat
By S. Murari
Oct 26, 2008, 20:33
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CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - A key regional ally of the Indian government has withdrawn a threat to stop supporting the coalition over the escalating conflict in Sri Lanka, Indian Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said Sunday.
Mukherjee was given reassurances by the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, whose ruling party had threatened to pull out in protest against the Sri Lankan government's intensifying offensive against the LTTE.
"The Chief Minister assured me that he will not precipitate any crisis in the UPA government," Mukherjee said.
Withdrawal of support could have forced a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, ahead of elections due in 2009.
Mukherjee flew to the state capital Chennai from New Delhi to brief Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi about his earlier discussions with Sri Lankan special envoy Basil Rajapaksa.
Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (DMK) has demanded a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government forces and the LTTE, a militant group that has been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland since 1983.
Mukherjee called for patience, and ruled out any Indian involvement in solving the conflict, which the government says must be solved through dialogue.
"The problems, which are continuing for more than several decades, are not expected to be solved within a few weeks," he said.
In talks with the Sri Lankan envoy, Mukherjee stressed the need for an immediate "real devolution of power" for Tamils in areas cleared of the LTTE as a confidence-building measure.
Mukherjee said the Sri Lankan government had promised to give aid relief to an estimated 200,000 displaced Tamils, and said the Indian federal government would provide 800 tons of relief materials as well.
The escalating war in Sri Lanka has roiled Indian politics and prompted heated diplomatic exchanges between the neighboring states.
Hundreds of Tamils marched in the streets of Chennai on Friday in a protest organized by the DMK, while two Tamil politicians were arrested Thursday by the Indian police for speaking publicly in support of the LTTE rebels.
Experts had described the threats to resign as political posturing.
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