From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made it ample
clear that thee was no question of recognising the Eelam
government of the Tamil rebels or send the military to help out
the Srilankan Government.

He intervened to clarify the Government's stand when Jayanti
Natarajan of Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) wondered at an
all-party meeting convened by the government if the Government
has any clearcut policy.

Altogether 20 parties attended the meeting but conspicuously
absent was the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar,
making a ruling BJP leader remarked whether the party really had
the nationalist pretentions. Pawar is away in Jordan, inquiries
showed.

Vajpayee said India was in favour of a negotiated settlement
between the Sri Lanka Government and LTTE and it was willing to
be the mediator if both agree. There has, however, been no such
request, he remarked.

The Government assured the political parties to keep them
informed from time to time about any new developments and
convene another meeting if necessary, Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Pramod Mahajan said after the meeting held here Monday
morning.

There will also be a separate meeting before the end of this
week with small political parties of Tamil Nadu who do not have
representation in Parliament since the Government wants all
parties, small and big, to have a consensus on the ticklish
issue of the Tamilians' activities in the neighboring Sri Lanka.

There were wordy duels among the Tamil Nadu parties as they
criticised each other and the AIADMK representative, P H
Pandiyan, ridiculed the NDA partners from Tamil Nadu for talking
in "four voices" and that provoked MDMK leader Vaiko to burst out.

The Government was happy and relaxed at the meeting going
smooth, except for the fights among the Tamil Nadu parties, as
the sources said nobody demanded an immediate return of the Air
Force Chief Air Marshal Tipnis now on visit to Sri Lanka nor did
anybody expressed undue concern at Israel getting the foothold
in Sri Lanka just because India refused to respond.

Some political parties, however, cautioned the government that
it should remain alert to the possibility of the third party
like Norway intervening, but External Affairs Minister Jaswant
Singh allayed their fears pointing out that he was already in
touch with most of the countries interested in negotiations.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is planning a
separate meeting with all former Prime Ministers, former
External Affairs Ministes and former chiefs of the three defence
services to discuss the Sri Lanka development.

He wants all possible inputs so as to help the Government
proceed with a consistent policy that suits the best interests
of the country, sources in the PMO said.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on Monday
invited to his office Gen. Kalkat, who had led the Indian Peace
Keeping Forces (IPKF) to Sri Lanka during Rajiv Gandhi's
premiership, for discussions.

He also held a separate meeting with D R Karthikeyan, who had
headed the CBI special team which investigated the assassination
of Rajiv Gandhi leading to conviction of the culprits, including
hanging of four. Karthikeyan is now with the National Human
Rights Commission. END.