PILGRIMS: SL TO SORT OUT MATTERS WITH INDIAN GOVT.

The government is expected to take up with the Indian government the issue of safety and security for Sri Lankans visiting Tamil Nadu, Deputy External Affairs Minister Neomal Perera told the Daily Mirror yes

terday.

He said due to the close relationship between India and Sri Lanka and the ties between the External Affairs Ministry and the Indian High Commissioner Ashok S. Kantha this matter would be discussed in a cordial manner without the need to cause any diplomatic discord.

“We have a close relationship with Mr. Kantha and therefore this type of matter can be discussed over the phone and resolved,” the deputy minister said and added that the government would request the Indian government to be more vigilant in protecting Sri Lankans because there had been a number of issues regarding their safety in the past.

“We will inform the Central government that we seek its protection and assurance for the safety of those Sri Lankans who travel to South India,” he said.

Some 184 pilgrims from Sri Lanka were mobbed, on Monday while visiting the Poondi Matha Church in Thanjavur.

Meanwhile a special Sri Lankan government chartered flight will transport the 184 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, the External Affairs Ministry sources said yesterday. The pilgrims were expected to arrive in the country late last night on the flight arranged by our High Commission in Chennai. The devotees who were on a pilgrimage to the Poondimatha Church in Thanjavur on Monday were mobbed by a group of people in Tamil Nadu and forced to take refuge inside the church, subsequently the Sri Lankan government issued a travel warning about travelling to Tamil Nadu.

This incident heightens a week of tension between Sri Lanka and India and especially the Southern State of Tamil Nadu after its Chief Minister Jeyaram Jayalalithaa ordered two Sri Lankan soccer teams training there to return to Sri Lanka.