NEW DELHI, April 15: Being the "best-placed regional power" to help Sri Lanka, India will play the "most decisive" role in the peace process in the island-nation, a top Norwegian envoy has said.

Norway's special envoy to Sri Lanka Jon Hanssen-Bauer said in an interview to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency in Oslo that India is to be the "main partner" for Sri Lanka in the future. Oslo is in regular touch with New Delhi over the issue of the peace process in Sri Lanka.

Norway had borkered the now-defunct ceasefire treaty between the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2002.

"India is Sri Lanka’s main neighbour, and they are always taking a keen interest in helping Sri Lanka. I think India will play the most decisive role in the peace process," he said on the sidelines of a Conference on Peace and Reconciliation in South Asia, organised in the Norwegian capital by Indian Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation.

"India is Sri Lanka's big trade partner, it is also a political partner for a long time and they (India) would be the best-placed regional power to actually help Sri Lanka in the best way," said the top Norwegian diplomat, appointed the special envoy in 2006.

Norway is having "very open communications" with India on the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka, the envoy said, and added: "We are consulting with them very frequently because we think India has a lot of good advice to give."

"India is the main partner for Sri Lanka in the future. Therefore, cooperation between Sri Lanka and India in finding a political solution is crucial," the envoy said.

Norway had first agreed to play a mediator’s role in Sri Lanka in 2000, when the then Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had requested Oslo to assist the peace process as a third party.

The 2002 ceasefire agreement, which remained in force for six years despite frequent violations allegedly by both sides, was formally abrogated by the Sri Lankan government on January 16 this year.

The Norwegian envoy said that efforts are on to bring the opposing groups back to the table again. "We are in daily contact with both parties. We have a big diplomatic mission in Colombo and we are working and communicating with both sides. We have an open communication line with them," he said.

Norway would have preferred the ceasefire to continue "because it has some important elements", Hanssen-Bauer said. Asked about the Sri Lankan government's decision to end it, he said it was its "full right" to do so.

"We are working to make the possibility of returning to the talks as easy as possible, but it will be up to the parties to take the decisive steps towards new talks," the senior diplomat said.