India has told the United Kingdom that the ban of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should continue.

New Delhi has “shared information” as to why the ban should remain on the group that was responsible for the 30-year long insurgency in Sri Lanka but also the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

The development comes after Britain’s Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) in October removed the terror tag from the group.

Earlier on Tuesday, in response to a WION question, Acting British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson on if India has raised the issue said, “Can’t comment on individual conversations we had. But we had detailed discussion on a range of issues including around this type of issue with the Indian Government in a different format”. The decision of the POAC comes after an appeal was filed in May 2019 by an LTTE front organization that challenged the decision of the UK Secretary of State for Home Affairs. The decision had refused the application to de-proscribe LTTE from the list of Proscribed Organizations under the UK Terrorism Act of 2000.

Sri Lanka had protested against the development and has filed an appeal against the judgement of the POAC on the delisting of LTTE as a terror organization.

In a release, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said, “the Government of Sri Lanka has sufficient evidence to prove that the remnants of the LTTE and groups aligned with its terrorist ideology are active in foreign countries, working to incite violence and destabilize the country.”

Explaining, “Sri Lanka remains vigilant of threats to its national security as well as that of the region, and will always support members of the international community in the global fight against terrorism”.

The UK had listed LTTE as a terror outfit in 2000. The British Home Secretary will make the final decision on its listing. (WION)