rediff.com
rediff.com
News Find/Feedback/Site Index
      HOME | NEWS | AFP | REPORT
May 7, 2000

MESSAGE BOARD
NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

IAF chief arrives in Sri Lanka amid rebel offensive

E-Mail this report to a friend

The Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis, arrived in Colombo today on a five-day official visit that coincided with heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels in the island's north.

Officials said ACM Tipnis would be accorded a guard of honour at the tightly guarded air force headquarters in the Sri Lankan capital tomorrow.

Officials in Colombo and in New Delhi have stressed that the visit is unconnected with the latest fighting in the Jaffna peninsula and the Colombo government's appeal for foreign help to contain the rebels.

"The air chief marshal is accompanied by his wife Molina Tipnis and his personal staff," IAF spokesman R K Dhingra said in New Delhi.

Dhingra said Tipnis's official visit had been planned well ahead of the military crisis on the island.

Tipnis is due to visit the Sri Lankan airbase of Anuradhapura outside the island's northeastern areas where Tamil rebels are fighting government troops.

Indian military sources in New Delhi yesterday said the IAF is awaiting an official green signal to drop humanitarian aid to Sri Lankan soldiers trapped in Jaffna.

A highly placed IAF source told AFP in New Delhi that two large cargo planes are on standby at an airbase in Trivandrum, Kerala.

But India has ruled out any military intervention in Sri Lanka.

Colombo has vowed to defend Jaffna, which was captured from the LTTE in December 1995. The rebels maintained a de facto separate state there for nearly five years.

RELATED REPORT:
India will not recognise Eelam, says Lankan paper

Back to top
©AFP 2000 All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. All reproduction or redistribution is expressly forbidden without the prior written agreement of AFP.

Tell us what you think of this report

HOME | NEWS | BUSINESS | MONEY | SPORTS | MOVIES | CHAT | INFOTECH | TRAVEL
SINGLES | NEWSLINKS | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | GIFT SHOP | HOTEL BOOKINGS
AIR/RAIL | WEATHER | MILLENNIUM | BROADBAND | E-CARDS | EDUCATION
HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | CONTESTS | FEEDBACK