COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government is understood to have expressed its reservations on some of the provisions of the Indian draft for a proposed friendship treaty between the two countries, informed Sri Lankan sources here said.

Colombo’s views were communicated during the discussions Muchukund, Dubey, Secretary in India’s external affairs ministry, had with Sri Lankan foreign minister Ranjan Wijeratne during his two day visit here last weekend.

The Sri Lankan sources said while the Indian side was keen on an early signing of a proposed treaty, preferably before total deduction of the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF), scheduled for March 31, the Sri Lankan side, while expressing equal eagerness for an early treaty, however, wanted time to go thoroughly into all the aspects of the proposed treaty before it could be signed in an obvious attempt to avoid, “possible repercussions similar to the ‘one that followed the signing of a peace accord in July 1987.”

Wijeratne had told a news conference last fortnight that his government would also like to take all political parties into confidence before signing of a proposed treaty.

He had also made it clear that the signing of treaty would not be in any way linked with total deduction of the IPKF.

Indian high commission Lankan Lal Meehotra said the Colombo administration conveyed during the meetings that they were formulating their viewpoints on the Indian counter draft, and would be in touch with the Indian authorities as early as possible.

India had forwarded its counter draft for the proposed treaty earlier this month to Colombo in response to the Sri Lankan draft of early last year.

The Indian high commissioner said Dubey had also handed over a letter from Indian external affairs minister IK Gujral to his Si Lankan counterpart. However, the high commissioner would not give any details of the letter nor would he comment whether the letter contained any fresh date for the total deduction of the IPKF.

‘Wijeratne during his last visit to Delhi had requested his Indian counterpart for an earlier deduction than scheduled March end and was expecting a response.

Meanwhile a senior Sri Lankan minister was scheduled to hold, discussions with LTTE leaders here Monday evening as part of the government’s efforts to affect a ceasefire among the rival Tamil groups.

ACS Hamid, Sri Lankan minister for higher education, who had been closely associated with the government’s peace talks with the Tamil Militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was likely to conduct discussions with LTTE leaders Anton Balasingham and Yogaratnam Yogi, militant sources said.

Meanwhile suspected Tamil militants shot dead a village social worker in Trincomalee Monday morning while the security forces killed two suspected Sinhala militant Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) activists in the southern part of the island since Sunday night in the continuing mopping up operations, security sources here said.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 9, 1990