India Offers Pullout Schedule to Sri Lanka
India on Friday offered to withdraw 1,500 troops a week if the largest Tamil guerrilla group observes a cease-fire, government sources here said.
About 45,000 Indian troops are in Sri Lanka to enforce a July, 1987, peace accord aimed at ending ethnic strife in the Indian Ocean republic, where the government is dominated by the Sinhalese majority.
Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry sources said the Indian offer came Friday before the two sides ended a weeklong talk in New Delhi aimed at finding ways to make India withdraw its troops. Indian government officials in New Delhi were not available for comment on the proposal. India has said that a hasty withdrawal could cause even more bloodshed.
At the same time, Sri Lankan police said a strike called Friday by Sinhalese radicals to protest 150 deaths during protests last week disrupted normal life in the island nation but reported no incidents of violence.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
