New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) In a departure from its post-1991 hands off policy, India will tell Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse that it is interested in getting involved in development work in the island's Tamil majority northeast, including in areas held by the Tamil Tigers.

But New Delhi is not keen, despite appeals from a section of Sri Lankan politicians, to be a part of the co-chairs group (the US, Norway, European Union and Japan) that oversees the island's troubled peace process.

Rajapakse will arrive here Dec 27 in a special aircraft on a four-day state visit, the first such trip to India by a Sri Lankan president since 1998. Indian official sources say the aim behind making it a state visit is to show the world the "excellent" state of relations between the two countries.

India had adopted a hands-off policy vis-à-vis Sri Lanka's Tamil affairs after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) assassinated former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. India became the first country to outlaw the group in 1992.

Even while keeping the LTTE ban in place, India now wants to associate itself with development projects in Sri Lanka's north and east involving such areas as health, education and housing.

During Rajapakse's visit, during which he will meet Indian leaders including President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed on setting up a New Delhi-funded hospital and vocational training center in the eastern port town Trincomalee.

Another hospital will subsequently be constructed in the central hills where workers in the tea plantations are called "Indian Tamils", those whose ancestors reached the island during the British Raj as indentured labourers.

Relief material meant for Tamils displaced by the ethnic conflict and hit by last year's tsunami will also be supplied to the Ramakrishna Mission located at Point Pedro in the northern peninsula of Jaffna.

The relief material could include fishing boats and nets as well as sewing kits. Assistance would even be provided to rebuild small schools.

Indian officials will not get directly involved in such rehabilitation work, including in LTTE controlled areas, but route them through Colombo.

But India is clear that there is, as of now, no alternative to Norway as the peace facilitator. The president had vocally campaigned against Norway during his election but has since backtracked and agreed to retain Oslo's services.

India will also make it clear to the Sri Lankan leader that all efforts should be made to preserve and strengthen the ceasefire pact signed by Colombo and LTTE in February 2002 and to maintain the current no-war situation.

"Going back to war is going to benefit no one," an informed source told IANS.

India will also hear from the president what he is going to talk to the LTTE and what, if any, will be the contours of any parallel negotiations he undertakes with other political parties and groups in Sri Lanka on the peace process.

Rajapakse, who is seen as a friend of India, will also be probed about his pledge to give "maximum autonomy" to the Tamil areas. India feels that it will be vital for the president to evolve a "southern (Sinhala) consensus" on whatever he wishes to offer to the LTTE as a reasonable alternative to a Tamil separation.

Sri Lanka is keen on a defence pact with India. But New Delhi, while ready to meet Colombo's military needs, has not made up its mind. Talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are in an advanced stage but it is not clear if it will be signed during the visit.

"We are keen to develop our excellent relations with India, and this is a relation that has the backing of all political parties in Sri Lanka," a senior diplomatic source told IANS. "It is in this spirit that the president is undertaking this visit."

This will be Rajapakse's first foreign tour since he became the president after he narrowly won the Nov 17 election.

The president, who will come with a 60-strong entourage, will stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace. He arrives Nov 27 night and will get a ceremonial welcome the next morning.

Manmohan Singh will host a lunch for him Nov 28 and this will be followed by a state banquet in the evening.

On Nov 29, Rajapakse will be given a presentation on the Indian model of devolution. He will also attend a reception hosted by Sri Lanka's High Commissioner Romesh Jayasinghe.

He departs for the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya the next day and may halt in Kerala on his way home to pray at the Guruvayur temple.




Indo-Asian News Service