Ranil, India hold talks

11 May 2010 05:49 pm

Srilanka’s leader of opposition Ranil Wickramasinghe met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in New Delhi today. The two leaders discussed several bilateral issues, including the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Wickramasinghe, who is the leader of the United National Party, arrived in India on Monday on a four-day visit to India. India had earlier offered Sri Lanka 100 million dollars to help war refugees return home and rebuild the country’s ravaged north, as New Delhi is keen to be engaged in the island nation’s post-war reconstruction and retain influence.

Some 260,000 Tamil refugees who fled fighting in the waning months of the war are now being held in military-run camps in Sri Lanka.

Western countries, India and the United Nations are pressing the Srilanka government to send them home. (ANI)