Phuket (Thailand), July 22 - Sri Lanka Wednesday assured India that the process of devolution of powers to the Tamil minority is on course as it tries to resettle over 300,000 civilians displaced by the military conflict in the shortest possible time.

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama for nearly half hour on the sidelines of India-ASEAN ministerial meetings in this Thai island resort.

The talks focused on the resettlement of Tamils living in over 30 temporary camps since the end of the conflict between the military and the Tamil Tigers in May.

'Devolution is part of the constitution and implementation is part of the process. We have made significant progress,' Bogollagama told Indian journalists after the talks.

Bogollagama briefed Krishna about steps taken by the Sri Lankan government to resettle and rehabilitate the Tamils and the process of building political consensus over devolution of powers, informed sources said after the talks.

During the discussions, Krishna focused on the plight of Tamil civilians, an issue that has a wider political resonance in India.