"Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has announced an assistance package of Rupees 500 crores for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the north last year," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Monday delivering the inaugural address to a two-day seminar on Sri Lanka in New Delhi.

"We have in addition extended the lines of credit worth 416 million dollars for the restoration of railway infrastructure and other infrastructure projects in northern Sri Lanka. Another 382 million dollars are in the pipeline," she added.

"The end of military conflict in Sri Lanka has presented the country with many challenges, and we should not underestimate any of these challenges. The most immediate among them is the plight. They have come out after decades of conflict in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, scarred by their experience and seared by violence in their daily lives," she added.