COLOMBO, Dec 22: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left for India on Saturday in his latest move to fast-track a peace process to end his island’s bitter ethnic war.

Mr Wickremesinghe is to hold talks with his counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee whose government is a key player in Sri Lanka’s near two-decade ethnic conflict with Tamil Tiger guerillas.

“The prime minister has begun a three-day Indian visit with the aim of enlisting support for peace efforts,” state radio said on Saturday.

Hopes for peace in the country are at its highest in years after the Liberation Tigers

of Tamil Eelam declared a month-long ceasefire which the government matched on Friday.

India has a complex involvement in the conflict and analysts said Wickremesinghe’s visit implied a recognition by the government that India had a crucial role to play for possible future peace.—Reuters