Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando on Thursday received a positive response to his request seeking the assistance of the Indian government to train Sri Lankan journalists with a view to improving the quality of journalism in Sri Lanka.

During the talks with his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha on Thursday at the Indian Parliamentary complex in New Delhi, Minister Fernando sought assistance of the Ministry of External Affairs to work out a scholarship programme to train mid-career Sri Lanka journalists under short-term courses at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) which he visited before meeting Mr. Sinha.

Minister Fernando briefed Mr. Sinha on the current political situation in Sri Lanka and said that the Sri Lanka government was determined to implement the MoU signed with the LTTE in full before commencing talks in Thailand.

The two ministers discussed at length on issues relating to the regional peace and stability. Minister Fernando briefed Mr. Sinha about his recent visit to Islamabad.

Addressing trainee journalists from developing countries at the IIMC earlier, the Minister stressed that the journalists should identify their first responsibility to the people as telling the truth to them. The journalists were following a four-month diploma course on Development Journalism.

"Freedom of the press does not mean distorting the truth. We all must know that truth is sacred, but comment is free. People deserve the truth," he said.

"We should work hard to get the people of our region out of poverty. Most of them are living on less than a dollar a day. Though we in the Asian region may be poor in wealth, we are rich in cultural and spiritual values," Minister Fernando said.

He urged the journalists to engage in development journalism, and not in destructive journalism.

Sri Lanka High Commissioner in New Delhi Mangala Moonesinghe apprised the journalists on the current developments of the peace process. IIMC Director B. P. Sanjay also spoke.