New Delhi, November 6
Sri Lankan President Chandrika
Kumaratunga telephoned Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee this evening
and apprised him of the recent political developments in her country,
official sources said.
Ms Kumaratunga told Mr Vajpayee that she was all
for the peace process in the island nation.
During the 20-minute
conversation, Mr Vajpayee told her that India was anxiously watching the
developments in Sri Lanka and said that any constitutional crisis should
be avoided.
He also told Ms Kumaratunga that the peace process in Sri
Lanka should not be allowed to be disrupted and an acceptable solution
of the problem should emerge through internal political dialogue, the
sources said.
COLOMBO: The power struggle in Sri Lanka escalated on
Thursday with the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
demanding reconvening of the suspended Parliament and reinstatement of
the Ministers of Defence, Interior and Information even as President
Chandrika Kumaratunga announced that she was taking over the state-run
media.
Amidst mounting international concern over the political
crisis, Ms Kumaratunga assured that the state of emergency she imposed
yesterday would be for a “very short period of time.”
While taking
over the state-run radio, television and newspapers, she, however, said
she would allow media full freedom of expression.
