Sri Lanka: Indian Parliamentary delegation, today held talks with the Sri Lankan Minister for Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, who is also heading the special Task Force for the development of the war affected Northern Province. The delegation is on a six-day visit to the Island Nation. The delegation will have assessment of on the ground rehabilitation and resettlement work of the war displaced Tamil civilians.

The delegation headed by the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj also visited the Sri Lankan Parliament and interacted with the Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva and other parliamentarians. The 12 – member Parliamentary delegation paid floral tributes at the IPKF memorial of the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives to protect the territorial sovereignty of Sri Lanka.

The delegation is scheduled to have a meeting with the Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, where a range of issues concerning the Indo – Sri Lanka relations are likely to come up for discussion.

The Members of Parliament will interact with the representatives of the Tamil National Alliance, the Ceylon Workers Congress and other Tamil groups in Sri Lanka to get feedback of Tamil related issues of the North and East and also of the Indian Origin Tamils.