M K Narayanan lauds Tamil Nadu for checking LTTE threat

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has lauded the efforts of the Tamil Nadu State Government for the way in which it dealt with the threat posed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) activities in the state.

Chennai, Dec 18 : National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has lauded the efforts of the Tamil Nadu State Government for the way in which it dealt with the threat posed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) activities in the state.

Narayanan gave a clean chit to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the Drvaida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in tackling the LTTE threat.

"We are always careful about LTTE's activities in Tamil Nadu or anywhere else in India. I think Tamil Nadu has dealt with the Naxalite (Maoist rebellion) problem much better than rest of India," Narayanan said after a meeting with Karunanidhi here.

India outlawed the LTTE in 1992 following the killing of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991. The ban has been extended every two years, the last time in May 2006.

Despite the ban, several political parties in Tamil Nadu have been sympathetic to the cause of LTTE fighting for a separate home for the Tamils in the north Sri Lanka and some have even publicly espoused their cause. arayanan, however, ruled out Sri Lanka's suggestion for joint patrolling by the two navies.

"We have never said joint patrolling... what we talked (is) what is called coordinated patrolling. Each side will do their own patrolling," he said.

Narayanan further said New Delhi has taken up at the diplomatic level the issues concerning the Indian origin community, mainly ethnic Tamilians, who have been staging protests for their rights in Malaysia.

"That's a diplomatic issue. We will take it up with Malaysians at the diplomatic level," he said.

Some ethnic Indians, who make up about seven percent of the Malaysian population, complained they were being marginalised in terms of employment and business opportunities by a government dominated by politicians from the majority race, ethnic Malays.

ANI