India summons Lankan envoy

New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) As D.M.K. continued to mount pressure on the Sri Lanka Tamil issue, government Friday summoned Lankan High Commissioner to India C.R. Jayasinghe and told him that Colombo should address New Delhi's concerns over the humanitarian situation in the island nation and stop harassing and killing Indian fishermen.

Jayasinghe was called by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar
Menon who said that Sri Lanka should ensure that the rights of
its civilians are respected and they are protected from
attacks, sources said.

Menon told Jayasinghe that India was gravely worried over
the situation arising out the conflict in Sri Lanka and wanted
Colombo to address these concerns, the sources said.

The Foreign Secretary specifically said India wanted Sri
Lanka to stop harassing and killing of its fishermen in the
common waters between the two countries, they said.

Menon also told the Sri Lankan envoy that Colombo should
find a negotiated political solution to the ethnic problem
rather than look for a military victory.

The summoning of the Sri Lankan envoy came on a day three
more M.P.s of the government's ally D.M.K. submitted their
resignations to their party chief in protest against military
offensive in the island nation.

Over the past two days, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee have expressed
concern over the situation, particularly the "humanitarian
effect" of continuing conflict in Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister had on Wednesday said the situation in
the island nation is a cause for "serious concern" and asked
Colombo to find a negotiated settlement rather than looking
for a "military victory".

He said India was concerned over escalating hostilities,
losses suffered by civilians and increasing number of
displaced persons in Sri Lanka.

Singh said the situation in Sri Lanka calls for a
negotiated political settlement which respects the unity and
the integrity of Sri Lanka and at the same time respects the
essential human rights of minorities, particularly Tamil
minorities.

Mukherjee, in a statement Thursday, expressed worry
over the sitaution and said India will do all "in its power"
to ensure a political settlement to the ethnic problem in the
island nation.

"It is essential that their (citizen's) rights be
respected, that they be immune from attacks and that food and
other essential supplies be allowed to reach them," he said.

Earlier on October 6, National Security Adviser M.K.
Narayanan had summoned Sri Lanka's Deputy High Commissioner G
G A D Palithaganegoda and stressed that Colombo should act
with "greater restraint" and address the growing insecurity in
the wake of killing of unarmed people there. PTI AKK