National security adviser MK Narayanan and foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon have rushed to Colombo for talks with Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa. They will review the situation following claims that LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead and the fighting has ended.
India is preparing a Rs500-crore initial rehabilitation package. A plane carrying 25-30 tonnes of medicines and food supplies will be leaving for Sri Lanka on Thursday. India plans to send in medical teams and organise a makeshift hospital in Vavuniya as soon as possible, as hundreds of Tamils caught in the war zone are in desperate need of medical attention.
Narayanan met DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi before leaving for Colombo.
New Delhi also wants to ensure a devolution package is quickly announced and elections held in the northern province. There will be some plain-speaking if Rajapaksa dodges the issue of a political package.
China is planning to play a major role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the war-torn areas. India, which has traditionally been a friend of the Tamil minorities, will want to make sure it can play the more dominant role in the northern and eastern provinces.
