Bangalore: India has advised a solution for the Sri Lankan crisis based on a dialogue between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe in order to find a common ground without provoking a constitutional crisis, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said today (November 19).

"We are advising a solution based on a dialogue between the President (Kumaratunga) and Prime Minister (Wickramsinghe) in order to find a common ground without provoking a constitutional crisis, and so that dialogue could begin with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)," Sibal told reporters in Bangalore on the sidelines of the second meeting of the India-US High Technology Co-operation Group.

He said Norway would continue to be involved in the peace process between LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government once the present impasse ends.

"It is tactical suspension. It is not that they (Norway) are walking away (from the peace process)", Sibal said, adding that the Norwegian Special Envoy for Sri Lanka's peace process, Erik Solheim met him in New Delhi yesterday (November 19).

"They will resume once the decks are clear and the conditions are clear," he said.

Asserting that India was interested in peace and stability of Sri Lanka, Sibal said the country wanted the peace process to move forward.

Asked on whether the present stand-off between Kumaratunga and Wickramasinghe was due to the fear that the LTTE demands could undermine the integrity of Sri Lanka, Sibal said, "It is a very complex situation, no doubt, that it got complicated further, because of lack of trust".

PTI