3RD LEAD

New Delhi’s insistence on training Sri Lanka military highly deplorable: CPI

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 August 2012, 14:31 GMT]
The National Secretary of the Communist Party of India, Mr. D. Raja on Monday condemned Indian Minister of State for Defence, Mr MM Pallam Raju’s insistence on training Sri Lanka’s military in India as “highly deplorable.” The junior minister for defence, responding to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s opposition to the training, had said that India would continue to train Sri Lankan defence personnel at its establishments. "The statement is highly deplorable and this position has to be reviewed. The Chief Minister of the state [Tamil Nadu] has raised the issue, but the Government continues with the training in the name of bilateral ties," the CPI Secretary was cited by Outlook India.

Mr D. Raja viewed the minister’s statement as “another irrational” stand reflecting the “insensitivity” of New Delhi to the strong feelings in Tamil Nadu.

"India has not spoken anything on the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Government. It keeps quiet and it has now been established that the Indian Government helped Sri Lanka in the war," Mr Raja was cited saying.

Meanwhile, the DMK Chief, Mr. M. Karunanidhi has also joined the protest of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa on the training of Sri Lankan military personnel in India.

Mr. Karunanidhi, whose party is a member of the ruling alliance in New Delhi, recalled the TESO conference convened by him earlier this month that had adopted a resolution demanding New Delhi not to give training to Sri Lankan military in any part of India.

"Despite these efforts, the training programme is happening. The Centre should not continue this attitude and take up strongly the issue along with attack on Indian fishermen with Sri Lanka" Mr. Karunanidhi was cited by PTI on Monday.

"Sri Lankan defence personnel are sent to some other states whenever we protest but are allowed to continue training after some days," The DMK chief further commented.

After the war, the Congress regime in New Delhi bestowed a special privilege to the genocidal military of Sri Lanka to have ‘military to military relationship’ with the Indian military.

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