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India helps Lanka rebuild Trincomalee harbour
Indian Navy is helping in the reconstruction of fortifications along Trincomalee naval base.
India is helping Sri Lanka rebuild some 42 km of fortifications along Sri Lanka's Trincomalee naval base, which was destroyed in the tsunami devastation, a media report said on Sunday.
The Indian Navy, sent to Sri Lanka on relief missions to aid tsunami survivors, was helping the Sri Lankan Navy reconstruct some 42 km of fortifications around the northeastern port, the privately-owned Sunday Island newspaper said quoting officials.
"They (the Indian navy) are providing material assistance and are in the process of restoring Sri Lanka Navy positions along the coast," an official was quoted as saying.
There was no immediate word from either the Defence Ministry or the Indian authorities in Colombo.
The Trincomalee port is a key naval base that has, in the past, been a target for Tamil Tiger rebels operating along the same stretch of coast, one of the first areas to be hit by the giant waves on December 26.
India was the first country to rush emergency supplies and military personnel, who have been in the forefront of the island's unprecedented relief effort to help nearly a million displaced people.
Nearly 31,000 people lost their lives in the catastrophe.
Indian naval vessels were sent to the ports of Trincomalee, southern Galle and northern KKS to take part in relief missions. They also helped salvage bodies and cleared the debris-blocked Galle harbour ahead of the visit by US Marines, whose ship anchored in the southern port.
