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Suman Guha Mozumder in New York
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando on Thursday said that Colombo has the 'blessings' not only of the Indian government, but also of the opposition Congress party for the peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
"Our prime minister went to India last week and we have the blessings for negotiations with the LTTE from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well as opposition leader Sonia Gandhi," Fernando said
Fernando was addressing a press conference organised by the UN Correspondents Club in New York.
He, however, parried a direct response as to whether LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran would be extradited to India in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"The reality of the situation is this that there are extradition papers and court cases, but they have given blessings for the process to take place and I think it is more important for India that separatist forces should not raise their head in that part of the world because it would lead to their country being disintegrated," he said.
The foreign minister said that during negotiations with the LTTE, Colombo would be ready to consider anything with an open mind, short of a demand for a separate homeland.
"Out first priority is to bring peace and stability in the country so that we can develop economically," he said.
Asked to react to a recent statement by Prabhakaran that the LTTE has not dropped its demand for a separate homeland, the minister said there was 'a need for patience on this'.
"You cannot expect people who had been hiding in jungles for years and fighting wars to suddenly come out and say they have dropped their demands for homeland and they are laying down arms," he said.
"We have to be patient in this regard. The most important thing is that they have come to talk to us and let's hope that these talks will be fruitful," Fernando said.
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