Indian assistance not possible - President

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 May 2000, 11:14 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunge, said today that she did not think that it was possible to obtain military assistance from India to alleviate the military situation in the northern Jaffna peninsula, according to an MP of the ruling People's Alliance who attended a meeting of the party's Parliamentary Group Wednesday between 10 and 12.30pm.

She charged that those who had opposed the presence of the Indian Army in 1987-1990 were now clamouring for its return.

She told the meeting that the fall of the Sri Lanka Army base at Elephant Pass last month was a setback, but that her government was determined to continue the war against the Liberation Tigers, according to the MP.

Deputy Defence Minister, A. Ratwatte told the meeting that the fall of the base was a result of a shortage of water and the intense artillery fire used by the Tigers against the troops concentrated in the complex.