Kadirgamar to resolve China-India tension

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan foreign ministry sources said today that the Sri Lanka has accepted a request by the foreign minister of China that Sri Lanka should take steps to reduce the tensions that have arisen in the south Asian region following the recent nuclear tests by India.

The request was made by the Chinese foreign minister Mr. Tang Jiaxuan during discussions with Sri Lanka's foreign minister Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar who is on an official visit to China following a Non-Aligned Countries' conference in Columbia.

Ministry sources in Colombo said that the ministers had observed during the discussions that Sri Lanka and China have been seriously engaged in sustaining the peace, security and stability of the Asian region.

The Chinese foreign minister had made the request in this context they said. The Chinese minister had asked Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar that he should help to reduce the tension between China and India.

Mr. Kadirgamar related to Mr. Tang Jiaxuan the peace initiatives by Sri Lankan President's mother Mrs. Srimavo Bandaranaike in 1962 when she was Sri Lanka's prime minister to resolve the conflict between India and China which fought a border war that year.