SM Krishna nudges Lanka for 'meaningful' devolution package

Using his visit to the war-torn Kilinochchi town, the first by an Indian leader, to assure the war-weary Tamils of unflinching Indian support and help, SM Krishna today nudged Sri Lanka to resolve the ethnic problem by implementing a "meaningful" devolution package.

The External Affairs Minister distributed newly-built houses and renovated schools, constructed with Indian assistance, and said India was willing to provide more help for their development of the war-torn region.

Arriving in Kilinochchi, former bastion of LTTE that still carries the scars of the three-decade-old ethnic conflict, by a helicopter from capital Colombo, Krishna also handed over high-tech medical equipments worth Rs 1.5 crore to the District Central Hospital which attracts patients from the three northern districts of Kilinochchi, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu.

Seeking to strike an emotional chord with the ethnic Tamils in Jaffna, Krishna also spoke in Tamil for a few minutes during which he expressed his happiness over agriculture flourishing in the war-torn areas and asserted that India "stands ready" to do more for the relief and rehabilitation of the civilians.

"I am very happy to see the fields so green. It was not so when I last came here in November, 2010. I am very happy to see you people again. There were no roads then and now you have almost everything," Krishna, who was accompanied by his counterpart GL Pieris and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, said in his speech that had a mix of Tamil and Kannada, his mother tongue.

"It is our sincere hope that the vision and leadership that resulted in an end to the armed conflict will now be employed in the quest for a genuine political settlement based on devolution of power resulting in national reconciliation among all the communities of Sri Lanka," he said in Jaffna after distributing 10,000 cycles to resettled Tamils.

After he handed over 65 houses to beneficiaries in Ariviyal Nagar in Kilinochchi and Ariyali in Jaffna, the Tamil heartland of Sri Lanka, Krishna also visited the houses built by Hindustan Prefab Limited, an Indian public sector undertaking, and spoke with the beneficiaries.

Noting that he laid the foundation stone for the pilot project during his previous visit to this peninsula in November, 2010, Krishna said India and Sri Lanka had yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding for construction of 49,000 houses for resettled civilians in northern Lanka at a cost of USD 270 million.

"This is truly the flagship project of India's development assistance to Sri Lanka and, one of the largest grant assistance project undertaken by the Government of India in any part of the world," Krishna said, adding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi were interested in their welfare.

He also said it is India's hope that the dialogue process will lead to a "meaningful devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, which would create the necessary conditions for a lasting political settlement".

"India will do everything possible to assist in this process," he said and adding that the country has noted the "constructive recommendations" contained in the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and look forward to their implementation.

He also made use of the occasion to announce the completion of wreck removal work at the KKS Harbour at a cost of USD 19 million which is expected to facilitate marine trade in Jaffna peninsula and revive economic activity in Northern Province.

"We stand ready to provide further grant assistance for the next phase of the project.

"We are undertaking rehabilitation of Achuvely Industrial Zone to create employment opportunities in Northern Province and to provide a platform for industrial development of Jaffna," Krishna said.