Lankan Prez to visit India, Chennai tense

Chennai, Jun 8: Ahead of the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa's four-day visit to India, situation in Tamil Nadu is tense as pro-Tamil parties are holding protests against the leader's visit.

The protests and the possibilities of heavy disruption of public order has lead to deployment of heavy police force across the state.

Rajapaksa is expected to land in India on Tuesday, Jun 8. He will be holding talks in New Delhi with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on post-war political reconciliation plan.

The leaders are also expected to sign pacts to expand cooperation in areas ranging from counter-terrorism to development. The issue of Tamil settlement is going to be high on the agenda.

Rajapaksa was elected into power in Jan 2010 after he succeeded in defeating the rebel outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009. The LTTE supremo, V Prabhakaran was also killed in the offensive launched by the government.

The war displaced as many as 300,000 Tamils. About 80,000 Tamils continue to live in relief camps awaiting to be rehabilitated. India is expected to use Rajapaksa's visit as an opportunity to push for the rehabilitation of the war displaced Tamils.

OneIndia News