Chidambaram: Sri Lanka not doing enough to cater to the needs of the displaced Tamilians; Rajapakse: No place for “racism” in Sri Lanka; Saudi Arabia provides 100 tonnes of relief material
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    • Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram charged that Sri Lanka was not doing enough to cater to the needs of the displaced Tamilians. Chidambaram also stated that Tamil refugees in India would not be forcibly sent to Sri Lanka and their repatriation would be conditioned on favourable developments towards Tamilians under the Rajapakse government.

    President Rajapakse on his part has assured that 3,00,000 Tamil civilians would be resettled soon and asserted that in a post-conflict Sri Lanka, there was no place for “racism” and that any action that “creates a disturbance among our three communities ... Sinhala, Tamil, or Muslim” will not be tolerated1.

    Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has provided relief materials including tents, foodstuffs, medicines and medical equipment amounting to more than 100 tonnes of cargo for the Sri Lankan Tamils2.

    Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama visited China during the week and reiterated that China has always been a friend to Sri Lanka “at times of difficulty3.” Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on his part congratulated Sri Lanka on the success achieved in defeating terrorism and reiterated his country’s support towards maintaining her independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. The two ministers discussed issues relating to trade, tourism, investment promotion and development assistance4.

    In other developments, reports noted that India and Sri Lanka will soon look at the feasibility of laying under sea cables to interconnect the power networks of the two countries. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 2,292 crore5.

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