Thursday, August 18 2005 21:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: With uncertainty looming large over peace process in his country, former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe yesterday (August 17, 2005) advocated that India be involved in it and sought an 'out of the box thinking' to end the ethnic conflict.

The Opposition leader insisted that the current 'minority Government' in Lanka was not capable of taking the peace process forward effectively and stressed that a new, stable Government, fortified by a fresh mandate is a pre-requisite for advancing it.

Maintaining that Lanka's division would be unacceptable, he favoured its federal structure based on Indian model. "Our earlier attempts at ending conflict and bringing about peace through negotiations had been unsuccessful," Wickremasinghe said delivering the 8th Dinesh Singh lecture on 'Peace process in Sri Lanka' here.

"Reflecting on the mistakes we have all made", he said, "our approach to finding a political solution was based on our past experiences of negotiating with the LTTE." He stressed the need for using a different approach. To think out of the box, to be non-conventional.

Considering India to be an integral part of the Lankan peace process, Wickremasinghe said, "Our position, considering the sensitivities encountered in the past, is to provide India with the opportunity to assist us in the peace process in ways that are mutually-useful and sustainable." He appreciated the valuable input made by India into technical aspects of the process pertaining to institutional mechanisms for devolution of power.

"The Indian Government continues to be fully informed as it is in regular contact with the Donor Co-Chairs to the peace process who are the United States, the European Union, Norway and Japan" Wickremasinghe said.

Noting that India has been most supportive of Lankan efforts at moving the process forward, the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister said, "We followed the practice of consulting the Indian administration on all aspects of the peace process at every stage, often by personal visits. It is our intention to continue to do so in any future administration as well."

The United National Party (UNP) leader said India's support to Sri Lanka's peace process is bi-partisan and shared by all political parties, which was confirmed by the position of the present United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government. Rubbishing the perception held by several generations in the Sri Lankan establishment that India is a threat, he said it was rather a valuable opportunity towards achieving our nation's progress.

He said, "Sri Lanka's only approach to achieve economic development would be to work towards economic integration with India's vibrant economy while maintaining his country's political independence and identity. With this in mind, Sri Lanka should endeavour to become the primary gateway into India." Indo-Sri Lanka relationship, he said, could be developed into a model relationship that could serve as an example for the other neighbours in the region to emulate.