Indian Officials, Tamil Leaders Meet

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka —  Indian officials held talks Tuesday in the southern Indian city of Madras with Tamil leaders on new proposals to resolve Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, Indian and Sri Lankan officials said.

They said a team led by Indian Foreign Secretary K.P.S. Menon held separate talks with leaders of Sri Lankan Tamil groups living in exile and with M. G. Ramachandran, chief minister of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Government sources said the new peace plan envisions an autonomous elected council for Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern Tamil areas with 36 seats for the north and 35 for the eastern province. The minority Tamils have sought an independent state.

The central government would retain powers over foreign affairs and other areas.