COLOMBO, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has yet to receive an official intimation from the Indian government on a proposed visit by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to the island, a government minister said here Monday.

    "The government has not heard anything official yet on his visit," Laxman Yapa Abeywardena, the Minister of Media told reporters.

    Abeywardena said that the Sri Lankan government was appreciative of the stand taken by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government against terrorism.

    It was speculated that Mukherjee would be arriving in Colombo on the insistence of the lobby in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu who advocates a ceasefire in Sri Lanka's military conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in the north.

    The South Indian politicians have been bringing in pressure on the central Indian government to force the Sri Lankan government to stall current military action against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

    Meanwhile, the main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe welcomed the visit by Mukherjee.

    "It will be good if Mr. Mukherjee is coming. Because he will becoming not to help the LTTE. The LTTE is a banned organization in India," Wickremesinghe told a gathering on Monday at his party's headquarters.

    The Indian central government has drawn the Sri Lankan government's attention to the humanitarian crisis faced by the Tamil civilians caught in between the present military campaign.

    Indians have sent some relief items to the war hit civilians whom the government claim are being held by the LTTE against their wishes.