Published: Wednesday, Jun 29, 2011, 20:29 IST Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI
Terming the grievances of tamils in Sri Lanka as "legitimate", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India's efforts was to persuade the Sri Lankan government to ensure that all are treated as equal citizens as what is happening there has a domestic dimension.
During an interaction with a group of Editors, Singh said he has discussed the issue with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who has "good cooperation" and was conscious of the complexity of the issue.The Prime Minister also talked about India's "good" relations with Bangladesh, saying the government there has helped in apprehending anti-India insurgents. Singh said he would like to visit that country.
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna is going to visit Dhaka next week during which he will discuss important bilateral and regional issues with the Bangladeshi leadership.
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India, Lanka hold first Army-to-Army staff talks
India
NEW DELHI: India and Sri Lanka began their first Army-to-Army staff talks on Wednesday to bolster bilateral military cooperation with joint exercises and training programmes.
The three-day talks, led by Sri Lankan military secretary Major-General HCP Goonetilleke and Indian Army's additional director general (international cooperation) Major-General I P Singh, will chalk out the programmes to be undertaken by the two armies over the next one year.
"Such interactions will result in a more robust and pragmatic defence cooperation," said an official. India over the last several years has trained thousands of Sri Lankan personnel at its military institutions ranging from Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte (Mizoram) to School of Artillery at Devlali (Maharashtra), apart from providing specialized naval courses in gunnery, navigation, communication and anti-submarine warfare.
The importance of the talks can be gauged from the fact that India has similar staff talks with only nine other countries, namely US, UK, Israel, France, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Singapore.
