Three-member Lanka team to travel to New Delhi

A three-member high-level team from Sri Lanka is set to visit India to hold discussions with top officials on the resettlement of Tamil civilians displaced due to the 30-year-old civil war.
 
The team consisting of Lalit Weeratunga, Secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Senior Presidential Adviser Basil Rajapaksa is expected to arrive in New Delhi late tonight, reliable sources said.  
The trio will hold consultations with National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during their visit and would apprise them about the resettlement process under which nearly 1.95 lakh people, lodged in various camps across northern Lanka, have been sent back to their town and villages.
 
The team will also hold consultations with Indian officials on the reconstruction activities in former LTTE-held towns in northern Lanka, the sources said.

India is assisting Sri Lanka in reconstruction activities in the war-torn northern Lanka and has announced a grant of Rs 500 crore for the purpose.

New Delhi has also been insisting Colombo to quickly address the Tamil question by a political solution that is favourable to the minority communities, including Tamils.