Top Indian delegation in talks with govt.

By Jamila Najmuddin

A high level Indian delegation, including the National Security Advisor, were in Colombo yesterday for talks with the government on the country’s situation, the upcoming SAARC summit in Sri Lanka and the safety of the delegates, the Daily Mirror learns.

The Indian delegation comprising Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Defence Secretary Sri Vijay Singh arrived at the Bandaranaike airport on board a special flight last morning and were flown to Colombo by helicopter.

An Indian High Commission spokesman said the delegation was here to discuss the SAARC summit scheduled to open on August 1 in Colombo.

When contacted sources in New Delhi said the delegation was in the country to discuss defence issues, the security of the SAARC delegates and to meet top military and other officials during their short visit.

A spokesman for the Indian High Commission in Colombo said the sole purpose of the visit was to discuss issues about the upcoming SAARC summit and to prepare a detailed report about the event. He also said since the Indian Defence Secretary himself was part of the delegation the country’s security situation would have also figured in the discussions.

"One of the main purposes was to discuss the SAARC event but since they were in the country then issues regarding the country’s security situation also may have been discussed.

India aims at making the upcoming SAARC Summit in Colombo a success. During the delegations visit, I am sure that both countries would have also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations as well," the Indian High Commission spokesman told the Daily Mirror.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona also maintained that the Indian delegation had arrived in Colombo to discuss issues about the upcoming SAARC summit.

"The delegation is in Sri Lanka to fine tune issues regarding the SAARC summit. They will meet some senior government representatives and might return to India soon," Dr. Kohona said.

The delegation was expected to leave for India either last evening or this morning.

The IANS news service reported that the delegation was scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other key government officials. The report also quoted an official at the Presidential Secretariat as terming the visit as a "regular one"."Their visit is part of the ongoing consultations between Sri Lanka and India on the current developments," the official said, in an obvious reference to the conflict raging in Sri Lanka.

The official pointed out that a Sri Lankan delegation comprising Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, president’s secretary Lalith Weeratunga and presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa went to New Delhi late last year.

The forthcoming SAARC summit to be hosted by Sri Lanka is to address issues of food and energy security as well as terrorism. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was in India this week to extend an invitation from President Rajapaksa to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Summit.