India has already sent 1700 tonnes of aid for displaced people in Sri Lanka

Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon has handed over a consignment of medicine to Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, MP, a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.

“India will continue to work with Sri Lanka in meeting the humanitarian needs of the civilian population in Northern Sri Lanka,” it added.

India decided to send humanitarian aid for Sri Lanka’s displaced civilians after a visit to Delhi by Mr. Rajapaksa in October, last year.

Protests in TN

Mr. Rajapaksa, who was President Rajapaksa’s special envoy, met Indian leaders after Tamil Nadu politicians urged Central government to broker a truce between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE.

	TNA denies accusations that they are trying to save the LTTE from imminent defeat

“The first consignment of approximately 1700 tonnes comprising 80,000 ready-to-use family packs arrived in Sri Lanka within three weeks and has already been distributed to those in need,” the statement said.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), meanwhile, has once again appealed to India to intervene in ending the bloodshed in Sri Lanka.

TNA parliamentary group leader R Sambanthan, MP, told BBC Sandeshaya that it is not the Tamil Tigers but the tens of thousands of civilians who are facing hardships due to the ongoing war.

TNA delegation

A delegation of TNA parliamentarians has met Mr. Menon in Colombo on Friday.

"Victories or loses in battlefield will not solve the national question. There should be a political solution. The government may not be able to bring in a political solution after winning the war," Mr. Sambanthan said.

He categorically rejected accusations that the TNA is trying to save the LTTE from imminent defeat by calling for an immediate ceasefire.

When asked if the TNA is desperately trying to save LTTE leader's skin, "We have been calling for a political solution for nearly 60 years now. We have explained time and again on how to solve the problem without breaking up the country or dividing it for the last sicty years! We started our campaign long before the LTTE was born," he told BBC Sinhala service.