Saturday, January 7 2006 11:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Lauding India's role in supporting its territorial integrity and sovereignty, Sri Lanka has said the bonds between the two countries have further strengthened as a result of recent visit of its new President Mahinda Rajapakse to New Delhi.

"In many ways we are very appreciative of India's role all along in supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka", visiting Foreign Minister of the island nation, Mangala Samaraweera, told reporters here yesterday (Jan 07, 2006).

"India has been playing a very pro-active role, supportive role in the Sri Lankan question and after the recent visit of President Rajapakse we think the bonds between our two countries have further strengthened", he said.

As a result of this visit, "India, I am sure, will continue to play a bigger role in ensuring security, safety and sovereignty of our country".

The Minister's comments came amidst escalating violence in Sri Lanka, a developmnent threatening the fragile peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, and that has also led to serious concern in many world capitals including in Washington.

"Of course people always say every country should play a bigger role, but it is easier said than done," he replied when asked if there was a 'bigger' role for India in the light of the goings on.

"But as a country (India) which has its own political constraints. India is doing a lot for our country, economically as well. We have very good economic relations with India, especially after the Free Trade Agreement," Samaraweera noted.

The Minister also referred to India's exchanging views, not a formal participation at the meeting in Brussels of four Co-Chairs; EU, Japan, Norway and US that promised USD 4.5 billion aid to Sri Lanka tied to progress in peace talks and this was a "very, very positive and encouraging signal which was also greatly appreciated by many of the officials we met in Washington".

Referring to the LTTE and condemning the outfit as a 'brutal terror machine', Samaraweera spoke of the so-called liberation movement that not only gunned down the 'best and the most brilliant minds' of the Tamil community in the country but was also killing anyone who tried to bring about a peaceful negotiated settlement.

"Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was a key actor in the first genuine attempt to solve the problem which was the Indo-Lanka Accord and the 13 Amendments to the Sri Lankan Constitution. He was a key person, we know what happened to Prime Minister (Rajiv) Gandhi", Samaraweera said.

Asked if the task of finding a political solution has become somewhat difficult because the present government is seeking a solution within a unitary framework as opposed to the earlier solution in a federal framework, he argued that previous governments sought to impose models and that Rajapakse is looking at a maximum devolution in a unitary and united framework.

There are many examples of this in the global community like India, the UK and Spain, he said.