Sri Lanka on the path of development - S.M.Krishna

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, on his return from a four-day official visit to Sri Lanka, has said that Sri Lanka has paved the way for development as evident from Colombo's commitment on the rehabilitation, resettlement and the welfare of displaced persons belonging to the ethnic Tamil community.

Drawing parallels between his last two visits, Krishna said that there was considerable improvement in Sri Lanka and noted that the people have bounced back after a torturous phase in their lives.

"As a country, as a whole, Sri Lanka is embarking on a development agenda. Well, for three decades, you know, they have gone through the worst of times and naturally the people and the governmental leaders are all looking forward to an era of peaceful development," he told media persons onboard the aircraft, while returning from Sri Lanka after his four-day visit to the island nation.

Krishna formally handed over houses for displaced persons during his visit.

"See the housing program, which is our flagship program (in which) the thousand houses that have been built on a pilot basis and a large number of them have been completed. I handed over some of the houses to the prospective beneficiaries. I also distributed 10,000 cycles," he added.

He also handed over a school under a pilot project, which includes repairing of 79 damaged schools in the three districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya in the Northern Province.Besides these, Krishna handed over a fully equipped large hospital built with Indian aid at Kilinochchi.

Commenting on the Indian survivors in the cruise ship disaster off the Italian coast, Krishna said that the government would aid and help them reach their destinations.

Nearly 15 Indian survivors of the capsised cruise liner Costa Concordia in Italian waters arrived in New Delhi on Thursday to leave for their homes.

Eleven persons were confirmed dead and 22 are still missing when the 114,500 tonne Italian cruise ship struck a rock and sank off the picturesque Tuscan island almost a week ago.

"Well, you know, they are being received at all the international airports. Arrangements have been made to take care of them and we will see to it that they reach their homes and that they will be able to pursue their normal activities," said Krishna.

Responding to a question whether the relationship between India and China are in troubled waters, especially in the wake of Indian traders being detained in China and reports surfacing that it did not grant a visa to a member of an Indian defence delegation as he hailed from Arunachal Pradesh, Krishna said: "Well, you know, let us not be oversensitive about our relationship with China.

I think, the relationship is on a very firm footing. We have a strategic relationship with them. India would like to have good bilateral relations with China."

- ANI