Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu), Apr 26 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has expressed hope that the ongoing Sri Lanka crisis would come to an end "in another 24 or 48 hours".

Talking to reporters in Sivaganga last night, Chidambaram said Foreign Secretary Shivasankar Menon and National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan, who met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday in Colombo, had made a strict demand to stop the hostilities.

New Delhi, Apr 25 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said that India's response to the Sri Lankan crisis has been impacted by China which is using this issue to expand its sphere of influence in the island nation.

Chidambaram's comments are important as Lanka's importance for Beijing is in the sea-lanes of communication in the north Indian Ocean through which Chinese trade and energy supplies flow.

New Delhi, Apr 10 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has lashed out at the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers for taking the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament out of the country.

"We could have done it, but only if the IPL organisers had reflected on the concerns of the police and not tried to pressurize the State chief ministers," he told the CNN-IBN television channel in an interview.

New Delhi, Apr 7 : The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday refuted media reports of Home Minister P. Chidambaram refusing to answer a question put to him by journalist Jarnail Singh on the "clean chit" given to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in connection with the
1984 Sikh riots case.

According to a Home Ministry statement, the videotape is there and the Minister answered the question.

New Delhi, Apr 7 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday promised that if the Congress was voted to power, the party will set up a war room headed by Cabinet Secretary to deal with terror.

Addressing a press conference here today, Chidambaram said the war room would be a part of the permanent crisis management group.

Claiming that the Congress is the only party that can deal with the terror surge squarely and decisively, Chidambaram said the war room would function as a 24-hour watch post.

New Delhi, Apr 2 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday assured an up-to-mark security for the politicians in the run up to the general elections.

Talking to reporters here today, Chidambaram said, "There is no need for any panic. There is no need for any alarm... We have deployed enough security forces in the run up to the elections. We have taken all measures that are required to ensure polling takes place peacefully."