Children dressed as Krishna and Radha during a rath yatra in Colombo. (AFP)

New Delhi, Oct. 15: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the situation in Sri Lanka was a cause for “serious concern” and asked Colombo to seek a negotiated settlement rather than a “military victory”.

He was speaking after DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi resigned today and Tamil MPs threatened to quit en masse if the Centre did not intervene and stop the army offensive against Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Singh said the human rights of ethnic Tamils must be respected. The Prime Minister added that India had conveyed its views to the Lankan government when national security adviser M.K. Narayanan met the Lankan deputy high commissioner last week. “We are concerned over escalating hostilities, losses suffered by civilians and increasing number of displaced persons. We always believe that the situation does not call for military victory. It calls for negotiated political settlement which respects the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka and, at the same time, respects the essential human rights of the minorities, particularly the Tamils,” Singh said in reply to a question at a news conference after the India-Brazil-South Africa summit here.

Earlier, Kanimozhi submitted her resignation to her father and party chief M. Karunanidhi and urged him to take an “appropriate decision at an appropriate time”. The resignation was “symbolic”, DMK sources said.

‘Temporary phase’

In Colombo, the Lankan government today said the escalation in fighting against the LTTE was a “temporary phase” and it should not be construed as an offensive against Tamil civilians.