New Delhi:
As Sri Lanka announced the end of the war against LTTE with the killing of its chief V Prabhakaran, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon are expected to travel there in the next few days along with a Rs 500-crore rehabilitation package.
Narayanan and Menon are expected to press for immediate implementation of the devolution package that would give political powers to ethnic Tamils, particularly in northern Sri Lanka, which has been freed from LTTE control after 26 years of conflict.
"A package of almost Rs 500 crore which will be required for rehabilitation is under preparation," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.
He said India would be sending senior officials and special envoys to Sri Lanka soon to discuss in detail rehabilitation of people displaced by the war.
Mukherjee did not identify the envoys but sources said Narayanan and Menon are expected to visit Sri Lanka later this week.
Mukherjee noted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had already announced a Rs 100-crore relief package for Lankan Tamils in addition to the Rs 25 crore aid given by Tamil Nadu government.
India has been asking Sri Lanka to take political steps to ensure "effective devolution of power" so that Tamils in the island nation could live with dignity.