COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, May 11 (UPI) -- India has been invited to attend this month's international donors' meeting in Tokyo on the stalled Sri Lankan peace process.
The Hindu newspaper said Thursday the 'soul-searching' conference will evaluate the efforts made by the international community to resolve Colombo's ethnic conflict.
Though invited to join the conference, New Delhi has maintained its that it should have no direct role, a position it has upheld since the Indian Peacekeeping Force pulled out of the island country following the assassination of former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi by Sri Lankan Tamil rebels.
Indian media reports have also said that India is wary of full participation in the conference as it is unwilling to participate in a forum involving the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a banned terrorist outfit.
"We are somewhat flexible given New Delhi's position at donors' conference," said Yasushi Akashi, Japanese special envoy for the Sri Lankan peace process, who extended the invitation to India.
Akashi noted that New Delhi had been invited to previous donors' conferences and had, to some extent, participated in two such events.
"We certainly cannot dictate what India might do at the forthcoming Tokyo meeting," Akashi said.
"We have to talk to each other on what India feels as on of the countries in the region and as to what we could do together with regard to advancing Sri Lanka's peace process."
