India has asked the Sri Lanka government to provide the death certificate of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in a meeting of Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Advisor M K Narayanan with President Mahinda Rajapaksa here.Prabhakaran was in the wanted list of India in several criminal cases including the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi – whose 18th death anniversary is being observed today. The confirmation of his death will effectively close most of these cases.
Notably, no other concrete evidence is available on the death of Prabhakaran apart from the footage of his dead body, which was released by island government this Tuesday a day after he is believed to have been shot dead. The Sri Lankan, on its part though, has said that they also have a confirmation to prove that the man killed was indeed Prabhakaran.
Meanwhile, Narayanan and Menon held talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on condition of Tamil civilians.
The two officials had a breakfast meeting with Rajapaksa at his Temple Trees residence where immediate issues like the rehabilitation of displaced Tamils in the north and the east -- who have undergone enormous misery and hardship during the recent war between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE – was discussed.
The Indian delegation also apprised Rajapaksa of the concerns expressed by New Delhi and pressed him to take political steps to ensure "effective devolution of power" so that Tamils in the island nation could live with dignity and equality.
New Delhi is said to have prepared a Rs 500 crore rehabilitation package for the displaced people in Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier announced a Rs 100-crore relief package for Lankan Tamils in addition to the Rs 25 crore aid given by Tamil Nadu government.
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