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Peace process on right track: Sri Lankan minister
New Delhi, Nov 26: The political uncertainty notwithstanding, the peace process in Sri Lanka is on the right track and talks between the government and the LTTE could be resumed as early as next year, Sri Lankan Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake has said.
Karunanayake, who is
heading a 14-member Sri Lankan delegation to the India-Economic
Summit, said the current stand off between the president and prime
minister could not be construed as a 'set back', but admitted that
it has led to temporary suspension of talks.
Dismissing the suggestion that the LTTE's counterproposals were
akin to a blue print for ''Tamil Eelam (separate state)'', he said,
''theirs (LTTE) is only a proposal which is subject to negotiations.
I do not think the proposals are a pointer to separatism.''
The minister, who was quite critical of the President's action in
dismissing the three key ministers, reminded that the President and
Prime Minister belong to two different parties and it was natural
that the president too wanted to take credit for the peace process.
''If the Ranil Wickremesinghe government can sign a MoU with the
Ltte, why not with the President,'' he asked and added that both the
President and Prime Minister have understood the implications and
decided to work together to bring a permanent peace in the island
country. Initially, the president was worried about the people
being appreciative of Wickremesinghe's handling of the peace
process.
He said the Prime Minister had managed to bring the economy back
on track, making negative growth turn into 5.6 per cent positive
one. The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka had
helped increase of exports from his country.
The recent decision of the Indian government to allow private
airlines to start flights to Sri Lanka would definitely increase
tourism and business, he said. The minister said he had discussions
with Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy who told him that
once the cabinet approved it, private airlines would begin
operations, possibly from mid-December.
Bureau Report