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Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi has expressed opposition to the training of Sri Lankan defence personnel in India. The DMK chief said that he has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, seeking the scrapping of the training exercise at Air Force Station, Tambaram located on the outskirts of Chennai. Speaking to reporters here, Karunanidhi said: “Defence training should not be imparted to them (Sri Lankans) because they would suppress the movement of Tamils Elam, a crusade that we (DMK) are supporting. Of course, we also raised (the issue) in the parliament. The Sri Lankan Navy was also trained in India , and they trained their guns on Tamil fishermen.” He also discouraged sporting ties between India and Sri Lanka . “Yes, sports and Sri Lankan players visiting India should not be encouraged. Sports contests have been going on and I don't wish to comment further on this,” Karunanidhi added. The Sri Lankan armed forces attacked 18 Indian fishermen mid-sea, damaging their nets, iceboxes, food and other fishing implements, on August 17 and 18. Earlier in March, India supported a US-led resolution at the United Nations to pressurise Sri Lanka on war crimes, straining relations with the island nation. Western powers are increasingly taking Sri Lanka to task for not investigating allegations of widespread extra-judicial killings and other abuses by soldiers against Tamil minority in the final months of a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009.

Karunanidhi raises pitch against training of Lankan defence personnel in India