Sirisena's rise may help ISI spread terror in south India: Subramanian Swamy

New Delhi, Jan 9: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday conceded defeat in the island nation's tightest-ever presidential race and left his official residence, after cumulative results showed opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena winning by around 4,00,000 votes.

Soon after the declaration of results in Colombo, political parties in Tamil Nadu hailed Rajapasksa's defeat, but senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is a little skeptic about the prospects of the Sirisena-led government in Sri Lanka.

In an exclusive radio interview with NitiCentral the former Union Minister said that the Sirisena government, backed by the main opposition United National Party and another key breakaway group the JHU or the Buddhist Monk party, will be a matter of concern for India.

"The Sirisena government, due to the presence of Islamic parties in the coalition, will be forced to have a soft approach towards Pakistan. This soft attitude might help Pakistan promote terror activities in south India. Rajapaksa government on the other hand did not facilitate Pakistani jihadis to disturb peace on Indian soil," Swamy said.

Recently the arrest of a Sri Lankan national in Chennai raised alarm bells about the presence of the ISI in Sri Lanka. The operative Sakir Hussain narrated to the police about the ISI module being based in the Pakistan's High Commission in Colombo and was being run by their consular officer, Amir Zubair Siddiqui.

On the issue of Lankan Tamil's support to Sirisena Swamy said, "Lankan Tamils voted for Sirisena in large numbers for Rajapaksa was responsible for killing of LTTE. The TNA, which was close to the LTTE, will up the ante for a probe into his role in the alleged war crimes against minority Tamils in 2009. But the Buddhist Monk party would not want the government to do so. Hence, I doubt the Sirisena government will call for a probe. Thus, the new government will face criticism of the Tamils. This will bring instability in the government and I think his government won't last long in power."

Swamy further claimed that the new government was formed with the support of the United States and hence there won't be much influence of China on the Lankan regime.

"The influence of both US and China is not good for the development of the sub-continent. We all are aware of the Pakistan's condition which has been getting the patronage of US and China," said Swamy.

OneIndia News