US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO674

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000674 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR D, SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  04-17-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, CE, IN, NO, JA, LTTE - Peace Process, External Relations 
SUBJECT:  In meeting with Ambassador, key aide reviews 
President Kumaratunga's recent visit to India 
 
Refs:  Colombo 658, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador E. Ashley Wills. 
Reasons:  1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In an April 16 meeting, former FM 
Kadirgamar provided a readout of President Kumaratunga's 
recent visit to India.  Based on the New Delhi meetings, 
Kadirgamar said the GoI seemed to want to become more 
engaged re Sri Lanka.  In Chennai, Chief Minister 
Jayalalitha Jeyaram underscored her deep animus toward 
the Tigers.  Kadirgamar appeared satisfied with the 
visit.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) The Ambassador met April 16 with Lakshman 
Kadirgamar, a key aide to President Kumaratunga. 
(Note:  Kadirgamar is a former foreign minister and is 
currently a senior People's Alliance MP.)  Kadirgamar, 
who was on her delegation, provided a brief readout on 
Kumaratunga's April 7-10 visit to India. 
 
3.  (C) NEW DELHI:  Kadirgamar said the president met 
with a panoply of top Indian government officials, 
including PM Vajpayee, Deputy PM Advani, Minister of 
External Affairs Sinha, and Finance Minister Singh. 
Kadirgamar related that the president used the meetings 
to brief on the status of the peace process.  In doing 
this, he said she expressed overall support for the 
process, but stressed her concerns re the Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 
 
4.  (C) Kadirgamar said the president's interlocutors 
listened carefully to her comments.  Taken as a whole, 
he thought that the Indian officials appeared much more 
interested in Sri Lanka during the just concluded visit, 
as compared with her previous visit to India in early 
2002.  Kadirgamar said he got the strong feeling that 
India wanted to get more engaged in Sri Lanka's peace 
process in some way.  That said, GoI officials 
emphasized that India had no plans to assume a specific 
role, such as that of peace facilitator or otherwise. 
Ambassador Wills commented that the U.S. has encouraged 
India to get more involved regarding Sri Lanka.  As the 
major regional power, it can play a key role in 
solidifying the process, he noted. 
 
5.  (C) While in New Delhi, Kumaratunga also met with 
Sonia Gandhi, the head of the Congress Party.  According 
to Kadirgamar, Gandhi, who was joined by assistant 
Natwar Singh, listened intently to Kumaratunga's points 
re Sri Lanka, but made few comments, preferring to focus 
her remarks on domestic Indian politics.  Gandhi, for 
example, made no comments re the ultimate fate of LTTE 
leader V. Prabhakaran should there be a negotiated 
settlement of the conflict.  (Note:  Prabhakaran is 
under indictment in India for the assassination of 
former PM Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.  The GSL received an 
extradition request for Prabhakaran some years ago.) 
 
6.  (C) CHENNAI:  Before proceeding to New Delhi, 
Kumaratunga made a brief stopover to meet with Tamil 
Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jeyaram.  Kadirgamar 
indicated that the meeting was very cordial, with an 
animated Jayalalitha dominating the discussion.  The 
chief minister repeatedly made clear her long-standing 
animus toward the LTTE and her doubts that the peace 
process would work because of the group.  She expressed 
deep concern about the detention of Indian fishermen in 
Sri Lanka, especially by the Tigers.  The two also 
discussed the fate of the approximately 100,000 Sri 
Lankan Tamil refugees living in India.  (Note:  Per 
Reftels, about 300,000 displaced persons have returned 
to their home areas in Sri Lanka since the start of the 
peace process, but very few refugees have gone back, so 
far.) 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  Kadirgamar seemed satisfied with the 
visit.  The president certainly received excellent press 
coverage back home.  This is important for her, as she 
desperately tries to show that she is still "relevant." 
Based on what we are hearing, Kumaratunga did not come 
on strong in her meetings by hitting out hard against 
her cohabitation rival, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, 
or the Tamil Tigers.  (Note:  She has reportedly tried 
the hard-line tack before with Indians and not made much 
headway with it.)  In reporting that India might be 
aiming to get more engaged, Kadirgamar seemed to think 
that that meant the GoI would join the president in her 
skepticism toward the peace process.  We're not sure 
where he may have got that impression, or whether it's a 
fantasy.  END COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS