By IANS,
Colombo : India is sympathetic to Sri Lanka’s Tamil community on humanitarian grounds, a Tamil politician quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying Friday.
D. Sitharthan of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) called on Manmohan Singh at the Taj Samudra Hotel along with two other Tamil politicians, V. Anandasangaree and T. Sritharan.
Sitharthan said he and his colleagues, who constitute the Tamil Democratic National Alliance, told Manmohan Singh about the situation in Sri Lanka, where violence linked to the ethnic conflict shows no signs of abating despite claiming over 70,000 lives.
After listening to them, Sitharthan quoted the prime minister as saying: “At least on humanitarian grounds, we are very sympathetic to Tamils and will do whatever is possible for their welfare.”
Sitharthan described their meeting as “constructive” and “fruitful”. “The prime minister listened to us attentively,” he said.
According to Sri Lankan sources, the Indian leader also met leaders of several political parties in the country.