Lankan soil not used by LeT to train terrorists

Lankan soil not used by LeT to train terrorists - Peiris

NEW DELHI: Despite a probe by its defence authorities, Sri Lanka has found no evidence to suggest that the island nation’s territory is being used by terror group LeT to train terrorists. Sri Lankan foreign minister G L Peiris, who is on a four-day visit to India, said on Saturday there is no merit in such claims.

Earlier, one of the accused in the Pune bakery blast case had said LeT operatives were being trained in Lanka. “The matter was brought to our notice. It was examined by our defence authorities but we have not found anything to establish it,” Peiris told TOI, adding that the two countries were involved in an intelligence sharing mechanism to prevent any such activity.

Indian security agencies had taken up with their Lankan counterparts about the disclosure made by the Pune bakery blast accused. Though the training was said to have taken place in an area close to Colombo, Lankan authorities denied this citing heavy presence of security personnel in the area.

Over the issue of growing Lankan proximity to China, Peiris said Colombo will continue to have a special relationship with India while advancing its economic cooperation with China. He also said there is no question of allowing any country to use its territory against India.

Speaking on the need to expedite political solution and devolution of power in Lanka, Peiris had said on Friday in a lecture that it was impossible to talk of an exact timeframe for implementing the 13th amendment. “It is a great mistake to do because if you talk of timeframe and then you are not able to complete the process, it is bound to be conjecture, speculative, then there is erosion of credibility,” he had said.

“In these constitutional processes things cannot be telescoped into clearly defined timeframe, and we don’t think that’s the way to go about it,” he added while delivering the R K Mishra Memorial Lecture on Growth, Equity and Security. – (The Times of India)

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