Credible devolution in Sri Lanka a must: India

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is willing to give more funds, besides the Rs.500 crore (around $100 million) which India has already pledged, for resettlement of around 300,000 civilians displaced by the conflict in Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said Thursday.

June 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Sri Lanka has agreed to allow a ship to off-load its contents, relief material sent by Tamil diaspora, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said here Wednesday after meeting a delegation from the island.

May 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - With Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tigers coming to an end, India's new External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Saturday urged Colombo to address the root cause of the conflict" by effective devolution of powers to all communities in the island nation.

May 21st, 2009 COLOMBO - India's National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Thursday met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sought a political solution to the Tamil question.

May 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will offer to help rehabilitate Tamil civilians and press for 'effective devolution' of powers when National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo Wednesday afternoon.

May 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India is concerned about the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka and wants that their 'legitimate aspirations' should be addressed, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday. Mukherjee said he had held several rounds of talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue.

May 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With Sri Lanka's military offensive against the Tamil Tigers coming to an end, India said Tuesday it would send send special envoys to Colombo and is also preparing a Rs.500 crore (Rs.5 billion) package to help in the rehabilitation of Tamil civilians displaced in the fighting. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, reacting to the news of the end of the military operation in Sri Lanka, told reporters that while 'the rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons' (Tamil civilians) was urgently required, India was also looking at the Sri Lankan government to ensure a 'political solution to fulfil the legitimate aspirations of the ethnic minorities including the Tamils'.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday called up Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and assured him of providing relief to those affected by the tragic conflict between the Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers. "In a telephone conversation with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier today, the President of Sri Lanka confirmed that armed resistance by the LTTE has come to an end and that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead," MEA official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in a statement.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Now that the 'conventional conflict' in Sri Lanka has ended with the killing of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, India Monday said it was time to address root causes of the strife and called for 'political steps towards the effective devolution of power' to all communities. 'In a telephone conversation with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier today, the president of Sri Lanka confirmed that armed resistance by the LTTE has come to an end and that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead,' external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said here.

April 29th, 2009 CHENNAI - Former United Nations diplomat and writer Shashi Tharoor has asked the Rajapaksa Government to give a devolution package to its Tamil civilians to give them an honoured place in the country. Tharoor recalled that the Sri Lanka Government had announced a couple of years ago that it would give a devolution package to the Tamils.

April 22nd, 2009 KOLKATA - India Tuesday asked Sri Lanka to take international organisations like the UN into confidence while evacuating civilians from the war zone in the island country. Speaking to reporters here, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee also asked Sri Lanka to distribute the relief materials sent by India through organisations such as the Red Cross.

March 2nd, 2009 KOLKATA - India Sunday asserted that a permanent solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka lay in proper devolution of power, and not through military success. Speaking at a seminar here, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee appealed to Colombo to use the ceasefire offer by the Tamil Tigers to allow organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to evacuate innocent civilians trapped in the war zone.

February 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Underlining its concerns for the thousands of Tamils caught up in Sri Lanka's war, India Sunday urged Colombo to make a distinction between the Tamil Tigers and civilians. Stressing that India had no sympathy for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee stressed that the way forward must include credible devolution of powers, early return of democracy in the northeast and rehabilitation of the war zone.

February 2nd, 2009 CHENNAI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader Lal Krishna Advani Tuesday alleged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was insensitive to the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Advani attended a meeting of the representatives of the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit, a BJP press statement said.

January 27th, 2009 DAMBULLA - India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the first One-day International at the Ranagiri International Stadium here Wednesday. Gautam Gambhir top scored with 62 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni remained unbeaten on 61 as India achieved the target of 247 in 48.1 overs.