COLOMBO: India’s arms length policy towards Sri Lanka’s saga of war and peace may be changing, reports from India indicated in the wake of an official visit by President Mahinda Rajapakse to Delhi early this week.

Despite past declarations by India that only ‘defensive weapons’ would be provided to Sri Lanka, the island’s giant neighbour has now shifted to supplying ‘offensive weapons’ to the UPFA government to fight the Tamil Tiger rebels, the Indian media said.

The altering of its policies are aimed at preventing Sri Lanka turning to Pakistan and China to meet its military need, local and Indian analysts have pointed out.

India has provided Sri Lanka advanced automatic 40mm L70 anti-aircraft guns to guard against aerial attacks by the Tigers, reports claimed coinciding with President Mahinda Rajapakse participating as chief guest at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi on Saturday.

In his inaugural address to the Leadership Summit, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quoted as saying: “Let there be no mistake about our resolve to meet the challenges the challenge of terrorism head on... We have to mobilise all our resources and will power for continued defeat of the terrorist machinery.”

Analysts meanwhile point out that certain recent developments in Tamil Nadu have forced India to take a forceful stand against terrorist activities by the LTTE.

Local reports last week said that an encounter between the Lankan Navy and the Sea Tigers off the coast in north-eastern Talaimannar on Thursday had revealed the existence of an LTTE arms stores in India.

The rebel ship detected by the Navy had been carrying a remote-controlled LTTE plane which military officials said was very likely to have been ferried from Tamil Nadu in India. “Pressure is on Delhi to prove that it is taking tough measures against the LTTE’s terrorist activities which has an impact not only on the sovereignty of Sri Lanka, but also on that of India,” a senior military official said.

“Overall it looks like India is inching closer to the type of role Sri Lanka would like to see it play,” a Sri Lankan diplomat opined as Indian Embassy sources confirmed that discussions would shortly commence between Indian political leaders and a Norwegian envoy facilitating Sri Lanka’s doomed peace process.

“Dialogue between Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen Baur and Indian leaders is scheduled to take place soon,” an embassy source said. But on the ground Sri Lanka’s conflict took a spiralling turn on Tuesday after the LTTE launched attack on an army camp in the south east of Sri Lanka. In the heavy fighting that followed seven soldiers and nearly forty LTTE cadres were killed military sources said, leading to speculation that the country would be plunged into an all out war.