Lanka Tamil MPs head for Delhi
TIMES OF INDIA
12 Apr, 2009
With elections round the corner and the Lanka conflict headed for a denouement, Sri Lanka's primary pro-LTTE Tamil political party is heading to India for talks with foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and national security adviser, M K Narayanan. Although the Tamil leaders will not be meeting any ministers at the Centre, their visit here just before the elections are certain to be seen as an attempt to appease angry voters in Tamil Nadu. Sambanthan, a leading member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called Menon this morning, according to sources, asking for an opportunity to interact with Indian officials. However, other sources said India had taken the initiative to invite the Sri Lankan Tamil legislators.

Agency reports quote TNA member Srikantha as saying that "majority of the lawmakers opposed a TNA delegation meeting with Indian officials given the fact that India has never asked Sri Lanka to stop the war in which innocent civilians are being killed". He reportedly said the TNA delegation is willing to meet any Indian official if India takes "diplomatic efforts to get an immediate ceasefire". The TNA is the political front for the LTTE and though India has banned the LTTE, it has tried to engage members of the TNA. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited TNA members to India when he visited Sri Lanka in August 2008, and recently, Menon repeated the invitation when he visited Colombo several weeks ago. Consequently, a five-member team of parliamentarians from the TNA led by Sambanthan will be here on April 16-17 for discussions. While there is no specific agenda, the discussions will focus on the current state of the conflict as well as a future political framework in the post-conflict scenario. India is pushing the Rajapakse government for a devolution package and talks with the Tamils to help them develop a political identity of their own and pre-empt the entire Tamil issue from revisiting the island nation. The LTTE, according to sources here, is now confined to an area of about 26 sq km, where the fiercest fighting has been reported. While the Sri Lanka army too has sustained casualties, the LTTE has been hit very badly. The worst affected are the unarmed civilians — India's estimate is some 70,000 are still caught in the fighting zone. The condition of the people are terrible, and India has been forced to send in more doctors and medical help. According to observers, neither side respects the safe zones.