India will never allow a separate Tamil State -SL PM

JERUSALEM: India will never allow a separate independent state for Tamils to be carved out from Sri Lanka, the island's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka said here.

"It should be borne in mind that India will never allow a separate independent state for Tamils in Sri Lanka because such a development will have a disastrous effect in India," Wickremanayaka, who is the first Sri Lankan Prime Minister to visit Israel, told a gathering.

"India has always been committed to Sri Lanka's territorial integrity," he added. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister, who is on a four-day visit, claimed that LTTE leader V Prabhakaran wanted to create a Tamil state by "including certain parts of India as well".

He said that his country is committed to a political solution to the three-decade-old conflict and is not seeking a military solution. He ruled out any division of the island nation, which he said has remained as one single unit throughout history. "It is not feasible politically or economically", the Sri Lankan leader emphasised.

While asserting that his governments doors are always open to peace talks, the island nation's premier dismissed any chances of a breakthrough with the LTTE under "the current megalomaniac leader".