The Hindu : International / India & World : Kumaratunga thanks India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

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International - India & World

Kumaratunga thanks India

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, JAN. 27. The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, today met a group of Indian Naval and Army personnel, engaged in relief operations along the tsunami-devastated coastline of the island-nation.

During the nearly 30-minute meeting at the President's House, Ms. Kumaratunga conveyed her personal gratitude and that of the Sri Lankan Government and people to the Indian officers and men for their "unstinting" help rendered since the disaster. Ms. Kumaratunga, who noted that the Indian defence personnel were the "first to arrive in Sri Lanka for humanitarian work immediately after the tsunami," praised their "immense" contributions to the relief work.

The Indian relief operations, which commenced on the evening of December 26, included a range of work, including supply of medical assistance, pitching tents and setting up relief camps, transporting personnel to the tsunami-hit areas. On the technical front, the Navy, cleared and opened the southern Galle port. Post-tsunami hydrographic surveys were also conducted by the Navy at the Colombo and Galle ports and the maps handed over to the Sri Lankan Government. Indian Army engineers also built bridges to link the devastated districts to the capital Colombo and other areas.

The relief operations had come in for wide praise and appreciation across Sri Lanka.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo said Ms. Kumaratunga "expressed the hope that further possibilities of cooperation between India and Sri Lanka in the field of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the tsunami-affected areas would be worked out in the near future."

The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Nirupama Rao, the Indian Defence Adviser for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Suraj Berry, were present at the meeting during which the members of the Indian defence team briefed Ms. Kumaratunga on the work done and shared their experiences from the tsunami-affected areas.

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