Colombo, Nov 29: India could not participate in the Oslo Conference earlier this week to seek economic and political support for peace in Sri Lanka because of its legal constraints, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Parliament today.
Replying to an opposition MP's demand for a clarification on India's absence at the Oslo meeting, he said India was there, in an apparent reference to a lone diplomat who was
part of the audience in the inaugural function of the November 25 meeting.
However, given the legal position that the LTTE, a participant at the talks, was proscribed in India, it could not join discussions on funding rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the island's north-east.
Wickremesinghe also explained the participation of the United States and Britain, both of which have listed the Tamil Tigers as a foreign terrorist organisation, in the Oslo meet.
The US position was it could address the gathering, but could not participate in the discussions. Britain has no such constraints, as its prohibition did not apply to the servants
of the crown, who include ministers, the Prime Minister said.
US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage and British international development minister Claire Short represented their respective countries in Oslo, where donors pledged 70 million dollars.
Economic reforms minister Milinda Moragoda, one of the government's negotiators, would leave for New Delhi today to brief Indian leaders on the progress in Oslo, he said.
Bureau Report
