Photo: Minister P. Chidambaram with President Rajapaksa at Templetree.( Pic by. Sudath Silva)(November, 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)Neither the Sri Lankan government nor LTTE could prevail over the other in the present armed conflict and the conflict must be resolved through negotiations, visiting Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here Sunday.
"Senseless acts of terror on the one side or planned operations by the armed forces on the other side will only result in more deaths and destruction," Chidambaram said while making a memorial lecture for the late Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
He said that the Indian government continues to maintain the policy that the LTTE must give up its demand for a separate state and the Sri Lankan government must work out a political solution to end the conflict.
Chidambaram said: "India has emphasized that the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, arising out of a sense of discrimination and a sense of negation of cultural, linguistic and human rights should be resolved through a negotiated political settlement that includes a credible devolution of powers."
He said despite the Indian government's seemingly hands off policy on Sri Lanka, India was watching with concern the developing situation in its southern neighbor by making contact with the Tamil minority leaders and the Sri Lankan government.
He cited the success in the resolution of the Northern Ireland problem through negotiations as an example that Sri Lanka should follow.
"Armed conflict will further deepen the division in the Sri Lankan society and it will make a negotiated settlement difficult," Chidambaram stressed.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.
 (November, 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Ne...){kind=link}
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