Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has said he does not want joint patrolling with India to check smuggling of arms to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Rajiv, who was the sixth and youngest prime minister of India, was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign.
The mediators also praised India's role in the developments in the island nation.
Sri Lankan Navy, assisted by helicopter gunships, on Saturday destroyed three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam boats, killing at least 15 of its cadres, while rebels said they sank two naval vessels in a fierce sea battle.
Over 4,000 people have died since December 2005 in a new wave of fighting despite a truce which is in place since February 2002.
'The residual historical hostility against India was certainly a factor,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The blast ripped through the crowded bus as passengers were getting off at a military check point just outside the town of Ampara, 350 km east of capital Colombo, police said.
'General Musharraf came to power after an Army coup. After sometime India recognized him. Like that, in future India will have to recognize us.'
An entire platoon of troops and two tanks of the Sri Lankan army were also missing.
The disclosure came as police reported that five more bullet-riddled bodies were found in the north-central district of Anuradhapura on Tuesday, 3 days after 5 other bodies bearing bullet injuries were found near the capital.
Naval gunboats intercepted the Tiger boats leading to the battle, which lasted for six hours, it said.
Anura Bandarnaike, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister is to visit New Delhi to visit Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Defence sources said at least six soldiers were feared dead and 60 others wounded in the battle. However, there was no independent confirmation of the army casualties.
The talks will be the first high-level meeting between the two sides since the peace process stalled in 2003.
Sri Lanka's peace broker Norway on Wednesday held a crucial meeting with a top rebel negotiator in London. \n
The Sri Lankan Air Force this evening destroyed an artillery gun position of the Tigers at Pooneryn, just south of the Jaffna peninsula.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga made an appearance at the Independence Square Park where the Tamil leader was cremated.
The blast is supposed to have been triggered by an army unit.
The government has urged the LTTE to break the prolonged deadlock and return to the negotiating table.
He claimed that the LTTE would welcome any initiative taken by the Indian government to solve the ethnic strife in his country.
India must recognise our freedom struggle: LTTE
The pitched battles follow two days of air raids by government troops triggered by the killing of 64 bus passengers in a suspected rebel landmine attack on Thursday in Anuradhapura.
They assured that they will 'not try to topple the government' despite a ruling coalition partner threatening to quit over the issue.
The Lankan president threatened serious action if the LTTE does not stop the killings.
The Karuna factor is 'one of the main obstacles' to a negotiated settlement between the Government and the LTTE at the peace talks scheduled in Geneva Saturday,
the Navy exchanged fire with a flotilla of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after the rebels attacked naval gunboats.
The powerful bomb blast is believed to be triggered by a suicide bomber.
Expressing reservations about Norway's engagement with the Sri Lankan government, Modi said it was aimed at gaining control of a deep sea ports in Sri Lanka.
Washington also expressed sadness at children being affected by the conflict, especially the death of dozens of them as a result of bombings.
Sri Lanka rules out Oslo, Norway as venue for truce talks with LTTE.
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, quoting Navy chief Vice-Admiral Daya Sandagiri had reported that Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman were among the tsunami casualties.
The defence ministry said the students carried the grenade, which exploded accidentally and caused their deaths.\n
The Madras high court on Tuesday issued notices to the government and the Central Bureau of Investigation on a petition seeking extradition of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam operative Kumaran Padmanabhan, one of the main suspects in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, from Sri Lanka.
The Intelligence Bureau has issued an alert about a possible attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi using a human bomb either during his visit to Patna or at the public rally he is scheduled to attend in Muzaffarpur on July 25.
They are our closest neighbour and it is very important for me to have them involved in the process, said Rajapakse.
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