Sri Lanka blames India for protracted war

Colombo: Sri Lanka Wednesday blamed India for the Tamil separatist war which dragged for 30 years on the island. The information department quoted Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as telling the local media that India could never absolve itself of the responsibility for creating terrorism in Sri Lanka.

India`s former permanent representative to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri, called for an investigation into specific allegations of war crimes during the last 100 days of military operations in Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa, however, said those demanding accountability on Sri Lanka`s part for alleged atrocities committed during the last 100 days of the conflict were silent on the origin of terrorism in Sri Lanka. He said Puri should realize that India`s intervention in Sri Lanka had caused a major regional crisis when "Indian-trained Sri Lankan terrorists" raided the Maldives in November 1988. Rajapaksa said the international community should consider a comprehensive investigation into the issue beginning with the Indian intervention. The information department quoted the defence secretary as saying that some interested parties were reluctant to acknowledge that Sri Lanka was a much better place today without the Tamil Tigers. The Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009 after 30 years of war. IANS