Zeenews Bureau
Chennai, May 09: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that a military solution was not a viable option to resolve the problems of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and instead favoured a solution within the framework of a united and federal island nation.
"There can be no military solution to the problems of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The legitimate aspirations of the Tamil-speaking minority must be fulfilled within the framework of a united and federal Sri Lanka through a negotiated and peaceful settlement," he said at a press conference here.
The PM, however, did say that the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue was of great concern to the people of India, especially Tamil Nadu. Acknowledging that the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka had been badly treated, the PM stated that his government was doing all it could to ensure civilians there live a life of dignity.
“It is not easy to send Army to a sovereign country,” Dr Singh said when asked to respond to demands for military intervention in Sri Lanka. The people of Tamil Nadu recognise that India’s hands are tied and that it cannot interfere in the internal matters of a sovereign country, he added.
The Prime Minister’s remarks are in contrast to the stand of the Tamil parties, including ally DMK, which have been pitching for a separate Eelam.
Clearing the air over the alliance with the DMK, the PM said the two parties were political partners in the state and would continue to remain so. “Congress’ alliance with DMK has stood the test of time and we will maintain it and form the government,” the PM added.
The PM also lauded DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for his contribution to the UPA government over the past five years.
‘Our growth inclusive’
Meanwhile, expressing hope that the UPA will comeback to power at the Centre, Dr Singh said only a Congress-led coalition can provide an effective government. The country’s problems cannot be addressed by negative and divisive politics of the BJP, he added.
Further criticising the NDA, Dr Singh said the economic growth during the UPA regime has been much more inclusive than during the BJP-led alliance’s rule.
‘Third Front non-viable’
On the Third Front’s chances in the Lok Sabha elections, Dr Singh dismissed the grouping as a non-viable arrangement. Clarifying his recent remarks of describing regional parties as an “obstacle to growth”, Dr Singh said it was a casual remark, adding what he meant to say was that when there are too many parties it becomes an obstacle to growth.
“Regional parties are a fact of life and we have been working with them,” he said further.
Further, the PM criticised the media for reading too much into RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan skipping Friday’s Cabinet meet, saying the rift was a creation of the press. “Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Mani Shankar Aiyar too did not attend the meet. That does not mean they are unhappy. Their skipping the meet doesn’t indicate any disagreement,” Dr Singh said.
‘Reply to Advani well deliberated’
Asked to comment on his criticism of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, Dr Singh said his attack on the veteran leader was well considered. “I had to reply to his continuous personal attacks on me over the past five years,” the PM told reporters.
The fact is that the Congress party has named me as the prime ministerial candidate. The citizens of this country thus need to be apprised about my response to continuous barrage of allegations, he said.
‘No dialogue with Pakistan’
Asked as to when India would resume talks with Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that Islamabad needed to take effective steps to bring to justice Mumbai terror attacks culprits before the composite dialogue can be resumed.
In a sense the Prime Minister clearly ruled out resumption of any dialogue with Pakistan any time soon.
Commenting on the curbs imposed by the Obama administration on outsourcing, Dr Singh said the move would hurt the competitiveness of US firms. “The US government would recognise this reality in future,” he added.
On the crisis in Nepal, the PM expressed concern but added that it was an internal matter of the neighbouring country. He however, did express hope for an early resolution to the crisis there.
