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Rao to visit Sri Lanka to assess rehabilitation
for Tamils
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is
arriving in Sri Lanka on Monday on a three-day
visit to get an overview the resettlement of
three lakh war-displaced Tamil people in the
north, which is being undertaken with aid from
India. Rao will fly to Jaffna and Vavuniya on
Tuesday to witness the process of
resettlement in the former LTTE held areas. She
is expected to meet leaders from the Tamil
National Alliance, Sri Lanka Workers Congress
and other parties on Wednesday afternoon after
visiting Trincomalee in the morning on that day.
Rao is expected to meet Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa and foreign minister G L
Peiris on Thursday before returning home. New
Delhi had stated recently that a senior official
from the External Affairs Ministry would travel
to the island nation for a first hand assessment
of the Indian aid for relief and rehabilitation
of the nearly three lakh displaced Tamil
civilians.
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The visit of Rao takes places
days after the visit of a Sri Lankan delegation
comprising of its Economic Development Minister
Basil Rajapaksa's, Defence Secretary Gotabaya
Rajapaksa and Presidential Secretary Lalith
Weerathunga to New Delhi last week. It may be
recalled that India has committed to build or
renovate 50,000 houses for the Tamil speaking
Displaced persons in the North and Eastern Sri
Lanka.
