‘It means cessation of hostilities. It means to the government of India that the Sri Lankan government has put an end to the ongoing offensive’, Indian Minister for the Interior, Palaniappan Chidambaram said from Kariakudi in Tamilnadu, where he is campaigning in the on-going Parliamentary elections.
New Delhi also announced a Rs. 100 crore grant as humanitarian assistance innocent civilians who have been evacuated from the conflict zone. Announcing the grant, the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said urgent steps ‘are required to ameliorate the humanitarian situation of those who have come out from conflict zone’, as well as to ‘bring the remaining civilians and Displaced Persons in the No Fire Zone out to safety’.
On being informed of Colombo’s decision, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, broke the fast he had begun six hours earlier demanding unconditional ceasefire. The 85-year-old leader said he had undertaken the fast on behalf of the people of Tamilnadu to protect the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
Chidambaram said ‘Sri Lanka’s announcement offers solace to us. The next course of action on the issue will be decided in consultation with all’. He spoke on phone to Karunanidhi
‘I think we all should welcome the development. More needs to be done. The Government of India will do more. The Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh), the NSA (M K Narayanan) are in touch with the Sri Lankan authorities. We will try to do more. But for now this means there is cessation of hostilities’, the Minister said in his reaction. ," he said.
Chidambaram said New Delhi’s understanding was that Sri Lankan government has put an end to the hostilities.
India has been asking for cessation of hostilities. ‘It is a result of the efforts that the Government of India has been making over the last several days, specially in the last 72 hours. We have exerted pressure on the humanitarian situation…’, the Indian minister said in his statement.
Pranab Mukherjee’s statement issue through the Foreign Office said:
‘The Government of Sri Lanka has announced that combat operations have reached their conclusion and that the Sri Lankan security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons, which could cause civilian casualties. Sri Lankan forces will now confine their attempts to rescue the civilians who remain and give foremost priority in saving them.
This is an important first step in addressing concerns for the safety and security of Tamil civilians and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) trapped in the conflict zone.
The need of the hour is for urgent steps to ameliorate the humanitarian situation of those who have come out from conflict zone as well as to bring the remaining civilians and IDPs in the No Fire Zone out to safety. The IDPs and innocent civilians are the main victims of the conflict and every measure must be taken to protect them and guarantee their welfare.
I am happy to announce that the Prime Minister has approved a grant of Rs. 100 crores (Rs 1 billion) for providing humanitarian relief assistance to innocent civilians who have been evacuated from the conflict zone. The details regarding utilization of this assistance are being worked out’.
