India expects a request for help in evacuating Sri Lankan troops from the Jaffna peninsula and is making preparations for it.
Defence minister George Fernandes told Business Standard that the situation was fluid and no date could be given.
A senior Cabinet minister said India had already been sounded out on this issue. However, he added that the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) had to make up its mind what it would do with its installations in Jaffna and Palaly, the airport base, after it was evacuated.
The LTTE is inching towards Jaffna. However, evacuation is a possibility only if a ceasefire is achieved. The SLA will have to surrender arms. Whether the Lankan political establishment is prepared to do this is the tricky question.
Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha, foreign minister Jaswant Singh confirmed that the government had received "some requests" from the Sri Lankan government "in the context of the present situation." "Naturally, all these requests are receiving the urgent consideration of the government," the statement said.
From the clarifications that followed the statement, it was clear that cutting across party lines, Parliament felt there must be no military intervention in Sri Lanka. The Congress expressed fervent faith in the government's abilities to defuse the crisis.
The DMK said India must not give any arms or ammunition to anyone in Sri Lanka. Indian arms end up with the Sri Lankan Army and are used against the Tamils. Interestingly, though the AIADMK was present in the House, it made no statement and asked no questions.
Responding to a question, the foreign minister clarified that the Norwegian government had been requested by the Sri Lankan government to intercede with the LTTE.
"Both governments had the courtesy to consult us. At present it does not seem as if the Norwegian proposals are workable" Singh said.
Meanwhile, the government made no comment on a related development that Israel and Sri Lanka had established diplomatic relations.
Israel had been forced to wind up its activities in Sri Lanka, following the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord. The secret letters by India exchanged after the accord referred to the presence of the Israeli secret service Mossad, on the island and asked that it be asked to return because it constituted a threat to India's security.
