Mr. Paul Castella, Mr. Palitha Kohana, Mr. Divaratne,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for joining us on this occasion. I also want to thank Mr. Castella and his colleagues in the ICRC delegation in Sri Lanka, for making this event possible and for their hospitality.

This is a simple but solemn occasion when we hand over 1,680 tonnes of relief material to ICRC for distribution to civilians affected by the conflict in the North of Sri Lanka, to help meet their humanitarian needs.

As you will see, the consignment consists of food, clothing, and personal hygiene items which have been packed individually into 80,000 family packs for ease of distribution, and to ensure the assistance reaches directly to the intended recipients.

This consignment comes as a follow up to the recent India-Sri Lanka Joint statement, where both sides decided that India will participate in providing humanitarian relief assistance in Sri Lanka. I am happy to note that this substantial consignment has arrived in Colombo within three weeks of that decision. It is a combined effort of the Government of India and donations received from the people of Tamil Nadu. It is a gesture of goodwill and intended to bring some relief to civilians in the conflict areas.

want to thank the Government of Sri Lanka for having so readily facilitated the arrival and dispatch of these relief items and I want to particularly thank the ICRC, in keeping with their humanitarian role and tradition, for agreeing to undertake the distribution of these relief items.

now formally hand over this gift certificate to the ICRC.

Thank You.