Military operations to crush the Tamil Tigers are being carried out with the fewest possible civilian casualties, Sri Lanka's foreign minister says.
Recently India said it was concerned about the situation in the north of the island where troops are inching towards Kilinochchi, the rebels' headquarters.
The government is coming under pressure over the fate of civilians.
The United Nations says as many as 230,000 people displaced by fighting remain in areas held by the rebels.
Political parties in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers have staged demonstrations against the Sri Lankan army offensive, saying that many Tamil civilians have died in the latest fighting.
Deep concern
Workers from the UN and other aid agencies were ordered out of Kilinochchi by the government last month.
India, home to a large Tamil population itself, has expressed deep concern.
"Everyone has the right to be concerned on the humanitarian factor which Sri Lanka is addressing well," Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the BBC .
"We have to be mindful how best we are going to protect our own people. We don't want any collateral damage on our people. That is how the military operations are being carried out with least amount of casualties," he said.
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa was quoted by the state-run Daily News as saying that the military offensive was taking longer than expected because care was being taken not to harm the civilians.
The government says it is on the brink of victory over the Tigers, who have fought for a generation for a separate state for the Tamil minority.
But India has told Sri Lanka that a military solution to the ethnic conflict is impossible, and there should be a negotiated political settlement.
The interview with the foreign minister of Sri Lanka can be heard in South Asia on BBC World Service in the Evening Report programme at 1400GMT. And listeners outside South Asia can hear the programme on the Evening Report podcast available at bbcworldservice.com/eveningreport
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