Krishna arrives in Lanka on four-day visit

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a four-day official visit to boost bilateral relations, amid growing Chinese footprints in Sri Lanka.

The highest-ranking Indian leader to tour the country after the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ended 18 months ago, Krishna is likely to press for greater devolution on the island where thousands of Tamils are still struggling to be repatriated to their homes.

Krishna's Sri Lankan counterpart G L Peiris told Parliament on Wednesday that Krishna's visit will be beneficial to Sri Lanka in terms of financial assistance.

The two external affairs ministers will preside the joint commission in Colombo to review the progress of five years of since its last meeting in 2005. The commission reviews the bilateral commitments by two countries.

Apart from bilateral talks with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapksha and other government representatives, Krishna will declare open two Indian consulates in the island's north and south. He will be flown to Hambantota, the ancestral hometown of Rajapksha in the south to open one of two consulates on Friday where the island's second international harbour is being built.

The other consulate will be opened in Jaffna, the northernmost city in the island, where the Tamil militancy was born. Krishna is the first Indian foreign minister to travel to Jaffna after K Natwar Singh in 1989. He will also participate in the work on the 50,000 housing development project for the war displaced persons and a railway development project.

Image: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Sri Lankan counterpart G L Peiris arrive in a special chopper at a defence base in Colombo | Photograph: Jay Mandal/On Assignment