"The government of Sri Lanka should speak softly and carry a big stick, which will greatly negate the LTTE threat of a return to hostilities," the Marxist JVP said after a routine meeting of political parties with President Mahinda Rajapakse to discuss the island's peace process.

The JVP, or People's Liberation Front, whose support is crucial for the survival of Rajapakse's minority government, said in a statement it opposed Colombo making concessions to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during talks in Switzerland last month.

After a break of nearly three years, the government and the Tigers opened talks at Celigny near Geneva. The next round is scheduled for April 19 at a venue in Switzerland still to be decided.

At the talks, the government initially insisted on rewriting the February 2002 truce arranged by peace broker Norway. After the Tigers resisted the move, Colombo backed down and agreed to uphold the existing ceasefire.

"We firmly believe that it is better to walk away from the negotiating table without any progress being made, rather than agree to any conditions that would be detrimental to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka," the JVP said.

The government, it added, "should ramp up its strengthening and training of the armed forces so that the LTTE will realise that going back to war is not an option for them."