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Lankan PM meets Dr Singh; discusses peace process

Source:PTI
January 29, 2007 20:04 IST

Sri Lanka's peace process, strained by unabated fighting, is understood to have come up for discussion when the island nation's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Monday.

The two leaders are believed to have discussed the efforts being made by the Sri Lankan government to usher in peace in the troubled country, which has been witnessing renewed fighting between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels for the past several months.

India's humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka and its implementation is also understood to have come up during the meeting where Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Adviser M K Narayanan were also present.

Over the past four years, India has given around $281 million worth of credit, which have been used to import wheat, petroleum products and buses. A fresh $100 million credit line to help Sri Lanka develop a southern railway link is being worked out.

The Mahinda Rajapakse government has started an exercise aimed at devolution of powers to address the grievances of ethnic communities. India has offered its help in devolution of powers based on its federal structure.

An all-party Tamil delegation recently visited India to study the federal structure of this country. It even examined the functioning of the Panchayati Raj system in this country.

Leader of Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet Dr Singh on Tuesday
Source: PTI
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