Former United Nations spokesperson Gordon Weiss has said that the Indian government was fully aware of the battle zone in Sri Lanka, during the conflict, including civilian casualties. He added that the Indians wanted to see the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam destroyed.
In the wake of reports that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam might allow civilians to leave the conflict zone, India on Tuesday asked the Sri Lankan government and others to work out 'appropriate and credible' procedures for their evacuation and expressed readiness to help in this direction. India is ready to provide all necessary help to facilitate the process of bringing innocent civilians to safety and to meet their humanitarian needs for relief materials.
Ruling out a ceasefire, Sri Lanka on Saturday said it was "hoping against hope" that the LTTE would abide by the 48-hour deadline set by it to release civilians in the war zone and warned the rebels of severe action if they failed to deliver.
Why omit the Tiananmen massacre from the history of China's Communist party, asks Claude Arpi.
'India enjoys the maneuverability of a coming big power.' 'It is this possibility that has persuaded Moscow to humour India and stayed Washington from getting punitive about India's neutrality on the Ukraine issue.'
With the Sri Lankan forces poised to capture the remaining strongholds of the Lankan Tigers of Tamil Eelam, India on Thursday told Colombo to ensure the safety of the Tamil civilians who are caught in the war zone in the north of the island. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also asked the LTTE to allow civilians in the areas held by it to cross over to the safe zones of the Sri Lankan government
For both India and China, the most likely option -- and the most challenging -- appears to be a freezing of the status quo.
The Indian Navy has a big role to play in support of our strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean. The increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a matter of concern and need to be factored. Hence, the requirement of an Aircraft Carrier is a foregone conclusion, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The incident came to light when two members from the group of youths, who went hunting in the jungle, returned home and informed the families of the five that they were whisked away by the Chinese troops from Sera-7, an Army patrol zone located about 12 km further north of Nacho.
The five youths had gone missing on Friday from the Sino-Indian border in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
A British channel has come out with a documentary featuring the pictures of the alleged cold-blooded killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, which was on Tuesday dismissed by Sri Lanka as "lies, half truths and numerous forms of speculation".
The Bangladeshi prime minister said that India's sudden decision to stop onion exports has led to a bit of difficulty for her countrymen.
The recent Central Reserve Police Force encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district is part of the latest plan of the force to conduct "big sweep" operations in uncharted Naxal hotbeds of the country in order to liberate them from the clutches of 'red' ultras.
The United States on Friday asked Sri Lanka to speed up its probe into allegations of rights abuses during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, resume talks with Tamil parties on power sharing and reduce the role of the military in the former conflict zone.
China on Saturday said it "expelled" foreign military planes from its airspace, the first such incident after Beijing unilaterally declared an air defence zone over islands disputed with Japan in the East China Sea.
It is bound to fail like the earlier ones, again causing Pakistan enormously more damage than to India, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Public spirited individuals and organisations should commemorate May 10 as Kashmir Solidarity Day by taking out candlelight marches and gathering at war memorials all over the country.'
'The occasion is not just to remember Lieutenant Fayaz, but also all those who have lost their lives in Kashmir defending the Republic,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The Chinese -- up to the highest leadership -- will avoid a conflict because they know they will be badly licked.' 'The reputation they have painstakingly built over the last two-three decades of being a global power will be destroyed.'
For two decades the US paid in blood and blood money for dependence on Pakistan to carry out one president's boast. Now, having been defeated by its proxies, another president will go into Rawalpindi's embrace to satisfy his constituents, predicts Shekhar Gupta.
The Obama administration continues to be gravely concerned over the plight of Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan security forces but has no plans to launch a massive military evacuation by the US Pacific Command till there is a halt in the hostilities in the conflict zone, senior administration officials revealed.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam maintains a hostile approach towards the exodus of civilians from the Wanni region, and the casualties caused by it is under-reported, Sri Lankan government told a high-level United Nations delegation on Monday.
Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, who was the eastern commander of the LTTE before he fell out with Prabhakaran in 2004, and Daya Master, who surrendered to the army recently, were taken by the government to Puthumatalan to identify Prabhakaran's bullet-ridden body. "The body is of Prabhakaran's, there is no doubt about this," said Karuna, now a federal minister
Prabhakaran's body was found near Nandikadal lagoon in the No Fire Zone.
Velupillai Prabhakaran met with a violent death as he ignored pleas to shun violence and join the mainstream, by rejecting recent overtures from the Sri Lankan government for a peaceful settlement, a former close confidant of the slain LTTE chief said. "The body is of Prabhakaran's... there is no doubt about this... Though I am bit saddened that he is no more but the fact is he never listened to anyone," Karuna said.
With a pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam web site raising questions over Velupillai Prabhakaran's death, the Sri Lankan army today released photographs of the guerilla's dead body
India, which abstained during the vote on a strong resolution against Sri Lanka's human rights practices at the UNHRC, on Tuesday urged Colombo to fulfill its commitments on the devolution of political authority, to carry forward the process of reconciliation and address the aspirations of the Tamil community in the island nation.
India on Friday urged the Sri Lankan government to cease its offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and declare a truce in the conflict zone. The Centre also rushed National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon to Colombo to step up its diplomatic pressure.The decision was taken at a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
As the Sri Lankan army prepares for a final assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the United States on Monday expressed its deep concern over the humanitarian situation in the conflict zones there, saying 'it is in a terrible condition'."We are very concerned about the humanitarian situation there. It is dire," State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.
Beleaguered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran has apparently agreed to a rescue mission by a "western country" to evacuate Tamil civilians trapped in war zone in Sri Lanka's north amid the government's announcement of a temporary 48-hour pause in fighting to enable thousands of displaced persons to move to safer areas.
He said the army has captured the entire Pudukudiriyirippu area that was under the control of the Tamil Tigers, who have lost many of their key leaders in the latest fighting. Important LTTE leaders killed in the clashes included Vidusha, Nagesh, Durga, Deepan and Patabi, Nanayakkara said, adding another senior rebel leader Banu was injured.
Elusive Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his son Charles Anthony are believed to be hiding in deep bunkers in the rebel-held Pudukudiyyirippu area and come out occasionally to tell the civilians not to leave their homes.
The government declared NSCN-K, all its front organisations and formations as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, a home ministry spokesman said.
Names like Symbiosis International University, Bharati Vidyapeeth and the newly-established Foundation for Liberal and Management Education already have their presence in this valley, which is building its brand as the country's largest education hub.
Concerned over the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, United States and Britain have asked both the island nation and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to agree to a 'temporary no-fire period' to allow civilians and the wounded to leave the conflict zone. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also called for a political resolution to the decades-old ethnic conflict in the country.
"Apart from the way the Tiger leader got killed, the military is also still investigating intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman's death as they could not find his body among top level Tiger leaders," the State-run Sunday Observer said.
With the two armies again in a face-off at multiple points, there is apprehension of renewed clashes.
Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead, the Sri Lankan army stated on Monday.Earlier in the day, the SL army, which had closed in on the last foothold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, killed several top rebel leaders.The body of Charles Anthony, Prabhakaran' son, was found during mop-up operations in the last rebel-held territory in the no-fire zone on Monday morning.
With the hybrid model in place, employees can take advantage of the working from office to build better working relationships, trust, and comradeship.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday appealed to the Tamil civilians, still trapped in the No-fire Zone, to come over to the "cleared areas" and assured that the government will ensure their safety.
On the verge of annihilation, the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam announced an unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, saying that that the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's war zone can only be overcome by a truce, but the Lankan government quickly rejected the offer and instead asked the rebels to surrender.
