India vow to help Sri Lanka resettle war displaced people

India has promised to assist Sri Lanka in resettling war displaced civilians in the north of the island state, Sri Lankan president's office said Sunday.

The visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday that India appreciated the progress made in resettling war displaced civilians in the country since the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels last May.

"The Indian foreign secretary was of the view that Sri Lanka had made considerable success in the resettling of IDPs ( Internally Displaced Persons) in the north and the east, with the number now standing at less than 70,000, and noted that this issue had now gone away from the attention of the international community," the president's office said in a statement.

According to the statement, Rao expressed India's willingness to continue assisting Sri Lanka in the resettlement of the IDPs and complete restoration of the railway line in the north.

After the government troops totally annihilated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009, nearly 300,000 people became displaced and sought refuge in state welfare centers in the northern Vavuniya district.

Source: Xinhua