Rajapakse talks Delhi's role in Lankan peace

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse (R) and Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh pose for photographers prior to a meeting in New Delhi yesterday. Rajapakse is on a three-day visit to India during which he will meet with government and opposition leaders. PHOTO: AFP

Rajapakse, who arrived in New Delhi late Saturday on his first to India since he took office in April, spent about 40 minutes in formal talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh after which they attended a working lunch hosted by the Indian leader, an official said.

Earlier in the day, Rajapakse held talks with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit.

Talks with Natwar Singh focused on a fragile truce between Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebels and Colombo brokered by Norway and in place since February 2002, India's envoy in Colombo Nirupam Sen told reporters.

"The main subjects that came up for discussion -- one was an exchange of views on the peace process," said Sen.

"The foreign minister said India would be able to give some economic assistance for the rehabilitation of the north and the east," he added, referring to areas under the control of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

India, which once backed Sri Lanka's rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has since taken a largely hands-off approach to the ethnic Tamil-Sinhala conflict in Sri Lanka that has claimed over 60,000 lives.

"The others are aspects in which the Sri Lankan prime minister is interested in, namely the work of rural reconstruction and rural development ... and certain infrastructure projects," Sen said.

On Sunday, Rajapakse met Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidamabaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Minister for Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu.

Reports said India was looking at new areas for enhancing economic cooperation with Sri Lanka, including agriculture and extending a new line of credit.

Rajapakse is accompanied by Trade Minister Jeyaraj Fernan-dopulle and Marxist minister Anura Dissanayake, whose JVP, or People's Liberation Front, had earlier violently enforced a ban on Indian-made products.

The JVP has been accused of killing Sri Lankans who ignored their warnings to boycott Indian products, including pharmaceutical goods and Indian-made vehicles.