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India ready for role in Lanka, says Jaswant: AFP

Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh reiterated Friday that New Delhi was prepared to evacuate embattled Sri Lankan troops pinned down in the northern Jaffna peninsula, but only at Colombo's request.

"We cannot independently assume the role in Sri Lanka," he said after a talk on security issues in Asia organised by the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore.

"We have always said that the best result is if all aspirations of the people in Sri Lanka are fully met," added Singh, who arrived here Thursday for a two-day visit.

The Sri Lankan government said Tuesday troops equipped with new weapons had been able to stop the "rolling onslaught" by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam seeking to capture Jaffna.

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