On farewell visit, Nirupama meets Mahinda Rajapaksa

(R.K. Radhakrishnan)

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit, ahead of her retirement on July 31. She met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa over breakfast on Saturday. Officials described the meeting as a “farewell” that the President wanted to accord her because of the special relationship she had with the country: Ms. Rao, a 1973-batch IFS officer, had served as High Commissioner and, earlier, as First Secretary in the Indian mission here. The meeting was the result of a spontaneous invitation from Mr. Rajapaksa. Ms. Rao mentioned to Mr. Rajapaksa about her retirement when she came here last June as part of the troika to hold discussions on the rehabilitation and resettlement of the war-battered Tamils. Ms. Rao accepted the invitation to visit Sri Lanka ahead of her retirement, but a series of high-profile visits to New Delhi meant that she had to keep her visit in abeyance. The President's office handed over a formal invitation to her “about five days ago.”

Projects in Sri Lanka

Ms. Rao, with her deep knowledge of Sri Lanka, and the then Joint Secretary (BSM), T.S. Tirumurti, drew up a host of reconstruction projects for the Northern Province, based on the needs felt on the ground, after discussions with their Sri Lankan counterparts.

The most ambitious project is the building of 50,000 houses for the war-displaced Tamils of the Northern Province. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna laid the foundation last November, a year and six months after the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan Army.

The progress of work has been painfully slow. Since the Indian-built houses seem the best among the available options, there have been reports of beneficiaries waiting for the project to be completed. Ms. Rao wanted to inaugurate the first batch of houses before she demitted office.

In the first phase, 1,000 houses are to be built by the public sector Hindustan Prefab Limited. The Indian authorities have confirmed that the first lot of homes — a mere 50 — is nearly ready.

Ms. Rao will return home on Sunday. She will then take up her post-retirement job as Indian ambassador to the United States.