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India agrees to pull out Lankan troops

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

On a day of high-level security reviews, secret parleys and a strong naval statement, the Indian government made it clear that it would be plunging into the Sri Lankan crisis in the next "two or three days."

The Indian intervention, a Cabinet minister told rediff.com late this evening, would be "purely humanitarian", and that "our ships and boats would begin to sail in two or three days."

It has now also been confirmed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has agreed to India's humanitarian intervention, but with demands: amongst which is the condition that the Tigers would have the honour of disarming the 28,000 Lankan troops in the Jaffna peninsula.

A tense Tuesday, during which it became clear that the Lankan army had lost several vital positions near Jaffna to LTTE, is expected to be followed by a diplomatically productive Wednesday.

USA's under secretary of state Thomas Pickering and Norway's special envoy are negotiating between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, while Eric Solheim would be reaching New Delhi by Wednesday morning.

Both Pickering and Solheim would meet Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh separately.

On Tuesday, the Cabinet Committee on Security met twice. The Prime Minister cancelled his trip to Bhopal and stayed back to chair the second of the meetings in the evening. The meeting came after the government got clear indication that Lankan forces would soon give up Jaffna, and that the LTTE had agreed to a cease-fire.

Senior government sources refused to confirm if it was Norwegian peacemakers, presently in Colombo, who managed to secure the LTTE assurance.

A beleagured Lankan government of Chandrika Kumaratunga is expected to make an official request to the Indian government any moment now, though informally it has been demanding the same for long.

A Cabinet minister said the Indian ships and boats would sail with "only required soldiers on board." And it would collect the 28,000 troops from the Peninsula, and hand them over to Lanka. "We have absolutely no military role there," the minister said.

ALSO SEE
Navy all set to evacuate Lankan troops
Army controls populated areas: Kumaratunga

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