Congress-DMK ties intact: Manmohan Singh

Chennai, May 9 (ANI): Clearing the air over the Lankan-Tamil issue and its effects on the Congress-DMK alliance, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the two parties are political partners in the state and would continue to remain so.

"Congress' alliance with DMK has stood the test of time and we will maintain it and form the government," Dr Singh said at a press conference here.

Dr. Singh's views on Sri Lanka's Tamil issue, however, were in contrast to what the DMK has been saying in the past few weeks.

The DMK and its key rival in Tamil Nadu-the AIADMK-have backed the formation of a separate Eelam in Sri Lanka as a way to end the heady three-decade civil-military strife in that island nation.

He said that a military solution was not a viable option to resolve the problems of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

"There can be no military solution to the problems of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The legitimate aspirations of the Tamil-speaking minority must be fulfilled within the framework of a united and federal Sri Lanka through a negotiated and peaceful settlement. It is not easy to send Army to a sovereign country," he said.

Dr Singh also lauded DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for his contribution to the UPA Government over the past five years. It is notable that Karunanidhi had been demanding Indian intervention in the Lankan-Tamil issue.

On RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan skipping Friday's Cabinet meet, Dr. Singh accused the media of reading too much between the lines.

"Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Mani Shankar Aiyar too did not attend the meet. That does not mean they are unhappy. Their skipping the meet doesn't indicate any disagreement," Dr Singh said.

Asked to comment on his criticism of BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, Dr Singh said his attack on the veteran leader was well considered.

"I had to reply to his continuous personal attacks on me over the past five years," he said.

On the question of Indo-Pak dialogue resumption, the Prime Minister said that Islamabad needed to take effective steps to bring to justice Mumbai terror attacks culprits before the composite dialogue can be resumed. (ANI)