Indian FM in Sri Lanka

The Indian foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, is holding talks with the Sri Lankan president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, in Colombo, on how to end the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Mr Singh's visit comes a month after India ruled out giving any military assistance to Sri Lankan troops, who over the past few months have suffered a string of heavy defeats at the hands of the Tamil Tiger guerrillas.

Analysts say there is much scepticism about what India can do to help resolve the conflict, which has claimed more than sixty-thousand lives over the past seventeen years.

Fighting is continuing in the north of the island between government troops and the rebels.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service