As Lankan warships blocked rebel escape routes in the north and forces encircled an eight sq km jungle patch where LTTE chief Prabhakaran is believed to be holed up, Colombo appealed for international aid for what it called an “emergency humanitarian situation”. Medical relief groups warned that civilian casualties were rising rapidly in the war zone despite the exodus of more than 100,000 in recent days.

Red Cross spokesperson Sarasi Wijeratne said about 1,000 badly wounded people were in desperate need of treatment or evacuation to better hospitals outside the conflict zone. Only two ill-equipped makeshift hospitals function in the tiny zone.

With the Lankan crisis playing out in Tamil Nadu where there was a day-long bandh today, the Cabinet Committee on Security met this evening and decided to send Narayanan and Menon to Colombo.

The Government, fast coming to the conclusion that the LTTE is nearing its end as a fighting force, is now looking at “managing the post-conflict scenario” in the long-term and the “need to push for early implementation of a devolutionary package” for Tamils in Sri Lanka. This will be the key area of talks between the two Indian envoys and the Lankan leadership.

A window to New Delhi’s mind was revealed when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, emerging from the CCS meeting, said there is “no military solution” to this crisis and the “only lasting solution will come from political efforts to address the real concerns of the Tamil people, giving them lives of dignity within the Sri Lankan mainstream.”

“We understand that over 1 lakh civilians have emerged from the No Fire Zone into areas under Sri Lankan government control in the past three days but the lives of several thousands of innocent civilians remain threatened,” he said.

It is learnt that Mukherjee also spoke to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband late last night and Menon held consultations with heads of missions of European countries in New Delhi today.

Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Alok Prasad, who was called from Colombo, discussed the “way forward” with Mukherjee and Menon.

India, which has already dispatched 40,000 family packs for the Tamil civilians, is planning massive humanitarian assistance for “rebuilding and reconstruction” of the affected areas in the northern and north-eastern parts of Sri Lanka, home to the Lankan Tamils. A makeshift hospital which India set up in Palmoddai will be moved to Vavuniya to cater to wounded Tamil civilians.