New Delhi
15 September 2006
An undeclared war between the Sri Lankan security forces and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is a reality and India needs to start doing
something without delay, a Norwegian official has said, as the ceasefire comes under
strain after renewed unrest in the island nation.
"India is encouraging the main opposition United National Party to cooperate with the
ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party but [it also] needs to start doing something to encourage
the Government of Sri Lanka to take a sensible approach and [resist the temptation of
employing] a military solution," the official told this newspaper.
"The SLFP and UNP [cannot cooperate without] Indian encouragement .... There is an
Indian encouragement but an [even more] active Indian participation is a necessity," he
observed. The SLFP and UNP have agreed to hold talks for forging a "bipartisan
consensus" and resolving a "national question".
"Despite Sri Lanka being a non-starter politically in Tamil Nadu, some still like to use the
Lanka issue in the state and that is a reality," he said. However, he was categorical that
the LTTE, like Government of Sri Lanka, "needs to show flexibility and accept that
compromises are necessary to arrive at a solution".
Incidentally, the United States-based thinktank Stratfor has said in a report titled Stalling
for Time in Sri Lanka, "The Sri Lankan government smells blood, and is now attempting
to seize positions that will allow it to secure all the transportation links into Jaffna that
are currently in Tiger claws, such as the Elephant Pass and the town of Muhamalai, and
drive the rebels farther into their traditional base in northern Sri Lanka."
The comments by the Norwegian official, who is also involved in facilitating the Sri
Lankan peace process, come after the Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference met in
Brussels on September 12 and said "the meeting [between Government of Sri Lanka and
LTTE] should take place urgently in Oslo at the beginning of October."
The official was candid that the proposed talks at Oslo should not be seen as Geneva-2.
(The first meeting was held at Geneva in February.) "One should forget about Geneva,
Oslo will be the first in a [new] series of talks that will take one or two years. We have a
fresh situation and so there will be continuation of talks," he said.
"[We have] no great belief in quick fix solutions," he hastened to add. "It will be
foolhardy to look at agenda ... unconditional talks would mean no set agenda. If
ambience is right, the [parties] will ask Norway to suggest an agenda," the official said in
response to a question about the agenda of the Oslo talks.
No comments:
Post a Comment