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Tamil Nadu's DMK Chief Minister Mutuvel Karunanidhi emerging from a 90-minute meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee, announced that his party "would not tie the hands of the Centre'' saying OK, to the Centre's request for a free hand to deal with the emerging crisis in the island state. This change in Chief Minister's position considered to have come after the Centre has expressed fears, on Thursday, that Sri Lanka might turn to Pakistan and Israel for arms in case India does not respond to its appeal for help. "No intention to interfere or tie the hands of the Centre," the Times of India newspaper quoted yesterday. According to the Times of India, Mr. Karunanidhi has made it clear he did not favour armed intervention or any kind of help being offered to the Sri Lankan forces battling it out with the Tamil Tigers in the Jaffna peninsula. "In a carefully-worded statement, Karunanidhi maintained it was the Centre's prerogative 'to take any approach in the interest of the nation...we do not want to interfere with that''. But he also cautioned that we should not forget the past. It was clear the chief minister was referring to New Delhi's misadventure in 1987, when Indian soldiers assisted the Sri Lankan army in its fight against the LTTE," the news report stated. Mr. Karunanidhi made
it clear on Thursday that he did not favour any move which would harm the
Sri Lankan Tamils. But he described his discussions with Vajpayee as
"free and frank'',. "Since there are no differences of opinion between the two, the meeting was more in the way of a coordination meeting to involve an NDA partner in the decision-making on a subject that concerned Tamil Nadu," a senior official of the Prime Minister stated. He revealed that India would like to help Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga but not through any direct intervention. "No one wants
Prabhakaran to win'', said the official, ``but there are limits to what
India will do''. Meanwhile,
according to agency reports, Indian foreign ministry spokesman, R.S.
Jassal has confirmed the visit of the Indian Air Force chief to Sri Lanka
tomorrow. But he has ruled out any connection between the visit and
possible militray assistance to Sri Lanka.
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