India, Sri Lanka discuss issue of displaced Tamils
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Oct 16, IRNA -- Rehabilitation of displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka came up for discussion during a meeting between India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in New Delhi.
Singh hosted lunch for Rajapaksa, who was in New Delhi to attend the closing ceremony of Commonwealth Games, during which informal discussions on various bilateral issues were held.
During the meeting, the Sri Lankan President is believed to have apprised Singh about the steps taken by his government to rehabilitate Tamils, who were displaced by the war between Sri Lankan troops and LTTE which ended a year ago.
Earlier, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris held a meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna during which the two sides discussed the issue.
Peiris told Krishna that the number of displaced people who are yet to be rehabilitated has come down to 20,000 from 2.80 lakh, pti reported.
They also discussed Sri Lankan government's plan for political devolution.
Krishna, while interacting with a group of journalists here today, said that he had told Peiris that since Presidential elections and all other polls had concluded, it was 'now time to act decisively to win over Tamil speaking Sri Lankans so that their concerns were taken care of adequately'.
It is important to bring about homogeneity between ethnic Tamils and Sinhalese people, he said, adding the Sri Lankan side agreed and assured that they were working on it.
Krishna and Peiris also took stock of the progress on implementation of bilateral pacts signed earlier this year.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30022294
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