NEW DELHI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- India said on Tuesday it will not buckle under any threat from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels of Sri Lanka, who warned New Delhi with consequences for demanding a safe passage of civilians caught in the fighting between government forces and LTTE.

    A senior Indian government official said on condition of anonymity that Tamil Tigers' warning to India not to help Sri Lanka to "uproot" civilians from their land shows the desperation of LTTE who are fighting government forces in a last-ditch attempt to save their last stronghold.

    "India will not buckle under any threat to help its neighbor," he said.

    The political head of LTTE, B. Nadesan, is said to have issued a warning to India not to ask for evacuation of civilians, saying the displacement of people from their homeland would be "a monumental blunder".

    "India and UN will be in no position to ask Sri Lanka to adhere to these empty promises of resettlement in the future. The human shield term is a propaganda used towards uprooting the Tamil people from their traditional habitat. The Tamil people have lived here for generations and want to continue living here and make a livelihood in these lands," Nadesan had said in a statement Monday.

    India has asked the Sri Lankan government to arrange a truce with the LTTE to let thousands of civilians leave the war zone, as government forces are apparently overwhelming the LTTE in northern Sri Lanka.

    India has also offered assistance to Sri Lanka of helping to rebuild the nation in the wake of its ongoing war with the Tamil Tigers.