PM Manmohan Singh writes to Karunanidhi on Sri Lankan issue

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has said that India has urged Sri Lanka to make "practical arrangements", including devolution of powers, to enable the minority Tamils lead a life of dignity.

In his letter to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, Singh said Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, during his recent visit to India, had promised to resettle the 47,000 Tamils still living in camps by the end of this year.

"I have also urged upon the Sri Lankan president the need for reconciliation among communities in Sri Lanka and for practical arrangements, including devolution of powers, to enable all minorities in Sri Lanka, particularly the Tamil minority, to lead lives of dignity," he said in his letter dated June 10.

The prime minister was responding to a letter Karunanidhi had written early this month, raising the issue of Tamils living in transit camps since the end of the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Singh said he had raised these issues with Rajapaksa and also mentioned the joint initiatives, such as constructing 50,000 houses for Internally Displaced Persons in Northern and Eastern provinces.

The government of India is separately also working on projects and programmes for resettled families so that they are in a position to earn their own livelihood, he said.