Will devolve power to Tamils,Lanka tells Indian envoys

Colombo even outlined a 180-day plan to “resettle” majority of the Tamil refugees to their original homes in the LTTE-controlled territory.

India,on its part,is sending eight doctors,over a dozen paramedics and a planeful of medical equipment tomorrow as “reinforcement” for a field hospital in Vavuniya in north-east Sri Lanka,where about 2.5 lakh refugees are camping,sources said.

The Indian envoys,who returned to New Delhi today,also met Basil Rajapaksa,special advisor to the Lankan President,and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Menon later told reporters that Sri Lanka appeared willing to go beyond the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord which for the first time set up a devolution plan for the ethnically-divided nation.

“Our discussions were within the framework of the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace agreement. The President is not only willing to implement the 13th Amendment (set up under the Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene accord) but is willing to go the extra mile,” he said.

According to the press statement,both sides agreed that with the end of military operations in Sri Lanka,the time was “opportune” to focus attention on issues of relief,rehabilitation,resettlement and re-conciliation including a permanent political solution in Sri Lanka.

With PTI inputs from Colombo