Skip to main content

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)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GL SLAMS ‘COLONIAL’ RIGHTS GROUPS

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris rejected “colonial” criticism Tuesday of a government-appointed civil war probe, after foreign rights groups snubbed an invitation to attend. New York-based Human Rights Watch, London-based Amnesty International and Brussels-based International Crisis Group last week accused the panel of a cover-up and refused an offer from Colombo to appear before it. Peiris said in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading think-tank based in London, that the rights groups had displayed a “most unattractive attitude.” “It smacks of an attitude that is almost colonial, patronising and condescending, the assumption being that other people must step in because Sri Lankans are unable to chart a course for their own future,” he said. Peiris, who is in London for talks with the British government, said the LLRC was based on similar reconciliation commissions in countries such as South Africa. He urged rights groups and
Post a Comment
Read more

IRRESPONSIBLE TALK BY MEMBERS COST UNP ITS VOTERS, SAYS SAJITH

The voters have distanced themselves from the United National Party (UNP) because several members had demeaned the military victories during the recently concluded war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said Hambantota District parliamentarian Sajith Premadasa. Former President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s son, Sajith was addressing a meeting at Gurutalawa at the Yatinuwara electorate in Kandy last evening to raise awareness on his Jathika Jeewaya Programme. Mr. Premadasa launched this programme within three electorates in the Gampaha District last week as well. Adding further, Sajith Pramadasa said the UNP suffered erosion in its support as some had uttered irresponsible comments when the Sri Lankan armed forces were gaining victory after victory in the fight against the LTTE. When the Army captured Thoppigala, some in the UNP had said that Thoppigala was only a jungle, while some had accused the then government and the military of claiming to be advancing towards Kilinochc
Post a Comment
Read more

TNA vows civil disobedience

Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party on Saturday vowed to launch a Gandhi-style civil disobedience campaign to press a long-standing demand for regional autonomy for their ethnic minority. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in its manifesto for April parliamentary elections renewed its demand for extensive regional autonomy – after Tamil Tiger rebels who fought in their name were crushed last year. “If the Sri Lankan state continues its present style of governance without due regard to the rights of the Tamil-speaking peoples, the TNA will launch a peaceful, non-violent campaign of civil disobedience on the Gandhian model,” the party said. The TNA was a puppet of the Tamil Tiger rebels who were crushed by security forces in May last year after 37 years of fighting. The United Nations has said up to 100,000 people were killed in the conflict. On Saturday the alliance said it would lobby neighbouring India and the international community to ensure the island’s Tamil community -- 12.5 percent
Post a Comment
Read more