New Delhi: Centre on Tuesday termed as "completely
baseless" a Sri Lankan newspaper report about existence of
LTTE camps in Tamil Nadu, saying there was no such facility
anywhere in the country.
"It is completely baseless. There is no LTTE camp
anywhere in India, including Tamil Nadu," Home Minister P
Chidambaram told a press conference here.
He was responding to a question on a Sri Lankan media
report that three LTTE camps exist in Tamil Nadu which
reportedly trained 150 cadres of the banned outfit.
The Tamil Nadu Government had yesterday refuted the media
report.
On the issue of Indian fishermen being allegedly attacked
off Sri Lankan waters, the Home Minister said talks were on in
this regard at two levels -- between the Governments of India
and Sri Lanka and between fishermen of both countries.
He said the Tamil Nadu Government is being kept in the
loop on the talks between the two countries.
"A draft agreement was prepared about one-and-a-half
years ago and the contours of the agreement were that the
fishermen could possibly resolve the issue," he said.
As per the draft, fishermen from India go right up to the
coast of Sri Lanka on particular days but there are "one or
two" elements in Sri Lanka which are in the way.
"I hope we can get over the obstacle and find a
solution," he said.
The Government of India and Sri Lanka will also
facilitate talks between fishermen, he said and added that he
was closely following the issue.
PTI
