Indian officials to leave for Sri Lanka today

New Delhi, Apr 24 (ANI): Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan will leave for Colombo today to review the situation in the island nation.

Narayanan and Menon are expected to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and will convey India's concerns to the Sri Lankan Government.

The decision was announced by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee after a special meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night.

The hour-long meeting was also attended by Mukherjee, Narayanan, Menon and Defence Minister A. K. Antony.

The ministers voiced their concerns over the plight of Tamils in the country and asked the LTTE to stop their "barbaric" acts against civilians.

They assessed the state of affairs in the country after the final assault against LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran began on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, India has dispatched nearly 40,000 assortments of packets as aid for the trapped civilians. It has already sent medical supplies and even set up a hospital.

The Sri Lankan Government has made arrangements for shipping enough of food items for the displaced persons.

Earlier, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that despite repeated requests from India to end the conflict in the island nation, both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government were not taking any action on the issue.

Chidambaram said the Sri Lankan Tamils issue was a humanitarian one and there is an urgent need to protect their lives. (ANI)