International - India & World   

India agrees to supply relief goods

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: India has agreed to a recent request by the Sri Lanka Government for supply of relief goods to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north and east.

According to sources in the Sri Lankan Government, the request was made following a humanitarian crisis, particularly in the Jaffna peninsula, after closure of the A-9 highway on August 11.

Citing closure of A-9 and the consequent crisis, the LTTE refused to have further talks with the Government at the Geneva-II round on October 28 and 29. The Government has so far not agreed to the demand from various quarters to re-open the highway on the ground that it would jeopardise national security.

Sources said New Delhi in response to a request from Colombo has agreed to a `one-time help' to supply rice, dal, sugar and milk powder. The quantum of the commodities and the modalities of their transport are yet to be worked out.

Through Red Cross

The supplies would be undertaken through the Indian Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Red Cross. Indications are that private parties would be involved in transport of the relief goods. However, refusal of the LTTE to guarantee safety of ships in the sea could prove to be a bottleneck.

In the last few weeks, India has lifted a local ban on exports of dal and sugar to Sri Lanka and allowed the Government to import them but shipping arrangements became an issue and the offer has not been availed of.

Reports from the Jaffna peninsula indicate that there is serious shortage of food, medicine and fuel. Jaffna's government agent K. Ganesh on Friday declared that the peninsula was facing a severe food crisis.

He said in a statement that for September and October, he had requested for 25,104 metric tonnes of food items for the peninsula, but had received only 19,358 metric tonnes until the end of October. He said he was forced to limit the distribution to multi-purpose co-operative societies.

For November, he has requested 24,481 metric tonnes of food items and warned that if this stock was not sent, the crisis would be aggravated. The government's main problem in sending supplies to the Jaffna peninsula is the difficulty in chartering private ships following the closure of the highway at Muhamalai.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Iran ready for talks with U.S.
"Japan is a U.S. State"
Kathmandu, Maoist rebels reach accord on arms
China, Africa sign trade deals
Sham trial: Saddam counsel
Threat to halt oil export
Fiji law dropped
Blackout in France
Microsoft plan to combat online fraud
Progress made in boundary talks: China
India agrees to supply relief goods

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu