Indian Foreign Minister to visit Sri Lanka in October to discuss Tamil issue

Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe announced to media today that India's Foreign Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna would visit Sri Lanka on an official tour in October this year.

He emphasized that the Indian government had not informed Sri Lanka of visits by any other official.
Following a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in Chennai last Wednesday (18), India's External Affairs Secretary Nirupama Rao said a senior government official will visit Sri Lanka's conflict-affected areas early next month to assess the development needs in the region.
Secretary Rao assured the Chief Minister of the central government's decision to send an emissary to Sri Lanka during her meeting with him to discuss the Sri Lankan Tamil issue and the problems faced by Indian fishermen.
However, an electronic media report said today that the yet unnamed "Indian special envoy to Sri Lanka who is specially deputed to solve the Tamil issue may become a permanent diplomatic fixture in Indo-Lanka relations."
The report speculated the deputed man to be an Indian politician rather than someone from the administrative or diplomatic services and hinted the likely candidate could be either the Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram or Former Union Minister TR Baalu. Their names have been forwarded to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a decision, it said.
The Indian Foreign Secretary has observed that the Indian government needs to assist Sri Lanka's conflict-affected people beyond rehabilitation.
"Beyond rehabilitation, we have to look at development, we have to look at livelihoods, we have to look at communications, all these aspects. So, we are looking at an integrated manner in which we can help the people of the Northern Province and the Eastern Province [of Sri Lanka]," she said.
India yesterday entered into an agreement with Sri Lanka to set up two new consulates, one in Jaffna and the other in Hambanthota as a measure to reinforce consular cooperation and friendly links between the two countries.