With Tamil Nadu on the boil over loss of Tamil lives in the Sri Lankan fighting and political parties calling for either a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities, the Government decided tonight to send National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon as early as tomorrow to Colombo to convey Indian concerns.

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.

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