Prabhakaran never wanted Indo-Lanka Accord
- President   
[Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 10.00 GMT]  
  
It is Prabhakaran and the LTTE that didn’t like nor accept the Indo-Lanka Accord from the beginning. Prabhakaran went back on his word to India and began attacking and killing the IPKF troops. He did not listen to Rajiv Gandhi or to India,” said President Mahinda Rajapaksa answering questions from the audience at after his Keynote Speech at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit at New Delhi today (13).
  
He said this in response to a question whether he did not think the Indo-Lanka Accord was a good basis for a solution to the problem of terrorism in Sri Lanka.
  
Questioned on his statement that the government was determined to fight terrorism while keeping the door open to a negotiated solution, and whether present indications that the Government was seeking to have new military offensive in the north against the LTTE were correct, President Rajapaksa said  he did not believe in a military solution. He reminded the audience that it was the LTTE that had repeatedly walked out of negotiations, even under the present government.
  
He said that hardly two weeks after his election to office the LTTE had begun attacking unarmed troops and innocent civilians. It had killed over 200 civilians including women and children but the government had not responded with force. It was only after they had closed the Mavil Aru anicut depriving water to Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims civilians that he had asked the troops to open the sluice gate. From then on the troops had responded to attacks from the LTTE. “I want a political solution”, he stressed.
  
When questioned about the perception of India’s Big Brother image in the South Asian region, and when and what could be considered as too much involvement by India in the affairs of regional neighbours, whether economic or military, President Rajapaksa said it all depended  on how the other country saw it.  It is whether the other country thinks the assistance is far too long or too much. “India should consider the feelings of her neighbours. We would also want to benefit from India’s success”, he said
  
The Sri Lankan President later officiated at the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) for cooperation in the training of members of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and other forms of mutual cooperation.
  
There was an important meeting between the President and Mr. Nandan Nilejani, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys, India’s leader in software development and outsourcing in the IT industry. The President invited Infosys to establish business in Sri Lanka making use of the facilities and skills available in the country, to which there was a favourable response from the head of Infosys.
  
President Rajapaksa later met with the Indian screen idol Shah Ruk Khan, who was also a participant in the Leadership Summit. There was discussion on the possibilities of cooperation in the development of the Sri Lankan film industry.