Colombo: India's top diplomat will visit
Sri Lanka later this week in a bid to boost bilateral ties and
push for an early resettlement of Tamil civilians displaced by
a decades-long ethnic conflict.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who will arrive here
on Saturday on a three-day visit, will hold bilateral
discussions with top Lankan officials. She will also call on
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Rohitha
Bogollagama.
"Nirupama Rao is arriving on Saturday night and
leaving on Monday afternoon," sources said, adding that
she will also visit Kandy in Central Sri Lanka.
Rao will inaugurate an India-funded educational
institution in Peradeniya on Sunday, Foreign Ministry sources
said.
The issue of the resettlement of Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) is expected to figure in the discussions
between Rao and the Lankan leaders, sources said.
Resettlement has been delayed, particularly in
Vavuniya North earlier this month, due to shortage of shelter
material, according to the Office of the United Nations
Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka.
India has taken several initiatives to provide
humanitarian relief assistance to IDPs and civilians affected
by the conflict in Northern Sri Lanka.
Recently, India sent a consignment of 2,600 tonnes of
shelter material in addition to 2,600 tonnes sent earlier,
according to officials.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 04, 2010, 19:18