Singh to send envoy

26 July 2010 04:35 pm

India is deputing a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs to Sri Lanka to assess the progress of restoration of normal life in Tamil-dominated northern and eastern parts of the island at the end of the war against LTTE.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has conveyed this in a letter to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi who had recently urged him to send a special envoy to assess the "real situation" in the Tamil areas.

"As a measure of our continuing interest and the importance that we attach to this (Tamils) issue, I am sending a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs to visit Sri Lanka and to consult with our High Commissioner and the local authorities, visiting the northern and eastern provinces to measure progress in these areas," Singh said.

A copy of Singh's letter, in response to Karunanidhi's July 17 missive expressing concern over the slow progress of the rehabilitation measures for the ethnic Tamils, was released to the media in Chennai.

The slow progress had consequently made people continue to undergo the "ordeal" of camp life, Karunanidhi had said adding India should itself review the ground situation. (PTI)