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Monday, 22 April, 2002, 12:38 GMT 13:38 UK

Analysis: Sri Lankan president in India


Tamil Tiger women
The Tigers began a ceasefire in December
By Adam Mynott
BBC correspondent in Delhi

The peace process between the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger rebels will be the main topic of discussion between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Indian political leaders during her visit to Delhi.

Mrs Kumaratunga is in the Indian capital for a week.

She has been a critic of elements of the peace process which has been led by the new government in Sri Lanka.

She is a member of the main opposition party which lost the recent elections.

The Sri Lankan president will meet the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other senior politicians to brief them on her analysis of the evolving peace process in Sri Lanka.

Deep suspicions

Mrs Kumaratunga is not opposed to preparations for the first face-to-face talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tiger rebels for seven years.

But she holds a deep and abiding suspicion of the Tigers and their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

President Kumaratunga

She came close to being assassinated by the Tamil Tigers during the presidential election campaign two years ago.

She has resisted proposals by the new elected government in Sri Lanka to lift the ban on the Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers are proscribed in India too, and Prime Minister Vajpayee has ruled out any change to that position, certainly in the short term.

India's recent involvement in Sri Lanka has been controversial.

In the early 1980s it armed and trained the Tamil Tigers and in 1987 tried to oversee a peace deal.

But more than 1,000 Indian troops were killed by the Tigers when the deal fell apart.

The Sri Lankan president and the political leadership in New Delhi are likely to reinforce each other's reservations about the peace process.

But neither party will put any obstacles in the path towards peace.


Related to this story:
Tamil Tigers upset over truce delay (18 Apr 02 | South Asia) Tiger steps out of the shadows (13 Apr 02 | From Our Own Correspondent) US urges Tiger rebels to shun violence (12 Apr 02 | South Asia) What next for Tamil Tiger leader? (11 Apr 02 | South Asia) Reclusive Tamil rebel leader faces public (10 Apr 02 | South Asia) Direct talks in Sri Lankan conflict (29 Mar 02 | South Asia) Ceasefire signed in Sri Lanka (22 Feb 02 | South Asia)


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