COLOMBO (TIP): India has said that the recent attacks on Sri Lankan Buddhist monks in Tamil Nadu were isolated incidents and did not reflect the strong people-to-people bonds. “These were isolated incidents and did not reflect the strong people-topeople bonds that have been an integral part of the close historical, cultural and civilisational ties between the India and Sri Lanka,” Indian high commissioner Ashok K Kantha has said. He was making farewell calls on the two Buddhist high priests located in the central town of Kandy yesterday. The attacks on two Buddhist monks triggered protests here which even caused the wrath on Sri Lankan cricketers playing in the IPL. The protesters urged the cricketers to boycott IPL.

The Indian envoy told the two high priests that “the state government of Tamil Nadu had taken immediate action to identify and prosecute the miscreants responsible for these incidents and that the Government of India, in consultation with the concerned state governments, had taken and would continue to take all possible measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Sri Lankan visitors to India, including to Tamil Nadu,” the Indian high commission said. Kantha’s remarks came just days after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that Sri Lanka and India continued to enjoy good relations despite the rumblings in Tamil Nadu.