Sri Lankan PM: “LTTE terrorists were being trained at three different secret locations in Tamil Nadu”; India denies the claim by calling it unfortunate, urges Sri Lanka to desist from reacting to speculative and uncorroborated reports; Sri Lanka’s trade d
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    • Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne has stated, “LTTE terrorists were being trained at three different secret locations in Tamil Nadu under the supervision of a person called Pugalendran Master, a close associate of Pottu Amman who acted as the head of the intelligence wing of the organization at that time”. He made these remarks in Parliament during the debate on the extension of the State of Emergency on March 9, 2011.1 However, India has categorically denied the existence of such camps and urged the Government of Sri Lanka to desist from reacting to speculative and uncorroborated reports. India considered such a reference by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister unfortunate.2 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Treasurer and Minister Dulles Alahapperuma said at a news conference that the rejection by India of the claim of PM Dayaratne would strengthen bilateral relations. According to the minister the incorrect statement by Mr. Jayaratne was now a closed chapter.3

    According to Central Bank’s data, Sri Lanka's trade deficit in 2010 has been widened by 66.7 percent, from US $3.1 billion during 2009 to US $ 5.2 billion in 2010. However, the cumulative earnings from exports increased to US $8.3 billion during the year 2010, indicating the increase by 17.3 per cent which is the highest annual value so far in the history.4

    In other developments, the United States Ambassador Patricia Butenis met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on March 8 and discussed the progress of talks with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the post-conflict reconciliation process, strengthening of ties between the US and Sri Lanka in trade and aviation and the issue of Indian fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters and the progress made towards finding a solution to the problem. External Affairs Minister G L Peiris and Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe were also present during the discussion.5

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