Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision to meet with the Tamil National Alliance last month clearly indicates the neighbouring country’s growing concerns about the humanitarian and political situation in Sri Lanka, says TNA Parliamentarian R. Sampanthan.

Asked how they had finally secured an appointment with the premier after failing in the past, Sampanthan replied: "I don’t want to comment on the past but I think it was clearly indicative of India’s growing concerns about the situation developing in Sri Lanka, both on the humanitarian and political front."

Meanwhile, the TNA delegation had informed the Indian Government of the Sri Lankan military’s "atrocities" against the Tamil people. Asked whether they had also educated India about LTTE atrocities, Sampanthan said: "Well… if there are LTTE atrocities, they (India) already know about them."

Sampanthan returned to Sri Lanka on Monday. On the issue of the north-east de-merger, he said the Indian premier had decisively told the TNA delegation that his country "remained committed to the merger of the north and east in terms of the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord".

"He was in total agreement with us that the merger was the cornerstone of the peace process and that it would be damaged very seriously if the de-merger was carried out in the manner now being adopted," Sampanthan said. "He said the de-merger was not acceptable to India and that this had already been conveyed to Sri Lanka."

The meeting with Singh had lasted around 45 minutes and was also attended by Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan.

According to Sampanthan, Narayanan had told him during a previous visit last year that India was "keeping all its options open" in the event of a north-east de-merger. This had reportedly been relayed by India to President Mahinda Rajapakse on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit in Havana, Cuba.

"I called attention to this fact during our meeting with the Indian premier," Sampanthan said. Asked what the Indian Government could have meant by "keeping all its options open", he replied: "I don’t know what it means but this has been conveyed to the Sri Lankan president."

The TNA delegation had also told the Indian Government that, while they appreciated India’s reiteration of its commitment to Sri Lanka’s unity and territorial integrity, this could only be feasible in the context of Tamils being given political space within the country’s constitutional framework.

"The prime minister said he had unequivocally apprised the Sri Lankan Government that there was no military solution to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people," Sampanthan continued. "He has impressed upon the Sri Lankan Government, too, that military action against Tamil civilians should not continue."

The TNA delegation also met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. The issue of widespread civilian death and displacement had been discussed in detail.