Vaiko charges Centre with not pushing for ceasefire in Lanka

MDMK leader Vaiko on Friday charged the Indian government with not pushing for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

MDMK leader Vaiko on Friday charged the Indian government with not pushing for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

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"Despite repeated resolutions adopted in the Assembly, calling for the Centre's intervention to ensure a ceasefire and the people of Tamil Nadu demanding it, the Centre has not pushed for the same at least for the sake of it," he said in a statement.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee too had not raised this demand during his recent visit to Colombo, he said

Colombo had turned down the call for ceasefire made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband as well as that of the Pope at the "behest" of India, he charged.

Referring to Home Minister P Chidambaram's statements on Thursday, urging the LTTE to drop arms and come for negotiations following which the Army could temporarily halt its offensive, Vaiko said that the Centre had not conveyed even this as a request to Colombo.