Rajapakse hosts dinner meeting with Pawar

Colombo, May 24 (UNI) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse today hosted dinner meeting for visiting Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at the Temple Trees, where they exchanged views on gamut of issues corncerning both nations.

The meeting took place amid what was widely seen as growing unease between the two nations on the issues of the Indian radars and the recent remarks by Defence Minister A K Antony on the killing of Indian fishermen.

Both of them are believed to have discussed the bilateral relations and current security situation in the war ravaged island nation, sources here said.

In the afternoon, Pawar held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Maithiripala Sirisena on the enhancement of co-operation in the field of agriculture.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told reporters this evening that he would be meeting Pawar tomorrow morning, but declined to divulge futher details.

Bogollagama, however, ruled out that the issue of the controversial Indian-supplied radar, which Colombo held responsible for its failure to detect flying Tigers, would not be taken up for discussion.

Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said earlier this month it had responded strongly to the recent statement by Indian Defence Minister A K Antony in Parliament that the Sri Lankan Navy (SLA) had killed over 77 Indian Fishermen between 1991 and mid-April 2007 and said that "there is absolutely no evidence to link the Sri Lankan Navy with attacks on Indian fishermen." Issuing a statement "to set the record straight", the Foreign Ministry said on May 12 that although there has been an increase in intrusion by Indian fishermen into the Sri Lankan territorial waters which helped the LTTE take cover to launch attacks on the government troops, the Sri Lankan navy has been applying "an absolutely humanitarian stance." Mr Pawar, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is also scheduled to visit Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) headquarters here in Colombo before winding up his three-day visit tomorrow.

UNI