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India offers Rs 500cr aid to Lanka
May 19: India was preparing a Rs 500-crore aid package for Sri Lanka, minister of external affairs Pranab Mukherjee said.An Indian delegation is likely to visit Colombo soon to discuss how to spend the money on the rehabilitation of the Tamils displaced by the conflict. "A package of almost Rs 500 crores which will be required for rehabilitation is under preparation," Mr Mukherjee told reporters here on Tuesday. India has expressed a desire to work with the people and the government of Sri Lanka to provide relief to those affected by the conflict, and to rapidly rehabilitate the displaced people, bringing their lives to normalcy as soon as possible. On Monday, Mr Mukherjee had a telephonic conversation with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who confirmed that armed resistance by the LTTE had come to an end and that Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was dead. Meanwhile, another of Indias neighbours, Nepal, on Tuesday sought out India for exchanging views on a political crisis in the Himalayan republic. Mr Mukherjee received a call from Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, whose party has staked claim to form the government after Maoist leader and caretaker Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" resigned on May 4. During the telephonic conversation, Mr Mukherjee said that India wanted stability and democracy in Nepal, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Mr Nepal briefed Mr Mukherjee about the developments in his country where Maoists were preventing formation of a new government. The CPN-UML, the third largest party in the Constituent Assembly, has claimed the support of 351 lawmakers in the 601-member House. (301 seats are required for a simple majority.) However, Maoists, who have been isolated, were preventing it by disrupting the functioning of the Constituent Assembly and hence prolonging the Constitutional crisis in the country. Posted by: john frum 2009-05-19 |
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