Sri Lanka seeks India's support for UN Sec Gen post

New Delhi, May 8 (UNI) Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the peace process in the island nation and regional and international situation.

Earlier, Mr Samaraweera met Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and sought India's support for the candidature of Mr Jayantha Dhanapala, the Sri Lankan candidate for the post of the UN Secretary General after the expiry of Mr Kofi Annan's second five-year term on December 31.

Mr Dhanapala, former Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, is one of the three Asian candidates for the post.

The other two declared Asian candidates are Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

During his 30-minute meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Samaraweera apprised him about the latest situation in the island nation which saw a spurt in violence last month following the assassination attempt on Sri Lankan Army Chief and retaliatory air strikes by government forces against LTTE targets.

Mr Samaraweera's meetings with Indian leaders are part of the high-level engagement between the two countries and provide an opportunity to the Indian leadership to get first-hand knowledge of the situation in the troubled neighbouring nation.

''The visit and discussions with high ranking Indian leadership are politically important and come at a time when the peace process is delicately poised. It is an opportunity for Indian leaders to get first-hand assessment of the situation in Sri Lanka,'' an official said.

Mr Samaraweera is accompanied by Foreign Secretary, Finance Secretary and other senior officials.

An External Affairs Ministry spokesman said the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister who met Mr Anand Sharma, sought India's support for the candidature of Mr. Jayanta Dhanapala for the post of the UN Secretary General.

''India has taken note of the request,'' the spokesman said.

The two leaders also took stock of the excellent economic and political bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka.

Mr Samaraweera briefed Mr Anand Sharma on the current status of the peace process in Sri Lanka.

Mr Sharma expressed the hope that the parties would resume talks at the earliest.

Mr Samaraweera arrived here on Saturday to hold discussions with Indian leaders on the fragile peace process in the island nation.

He also met Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, ICCR President Dr Karan Singh and CPM Leader Prakash Karat today.

Tomorrow he will meet Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

UNI RB MIR PC2014