Jaswant hands over urn carrying Indian soil

NEW YORK, OCT. 1. The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, handed over two urns, one containing water from all major Indian rivers and another the country's soil, to the New York Mayor, Mr. Rudolph Guiliani, to be put into the foundation of any memorial that is to be built for the victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center here.

Some six thousand people, including 250 Indians, are believed to have been killed in the attack which toppled the two 110-storey buildings.

Mr. Singh, who is in the U.S. to hold wide ranging talks with the American officials, had brought the urns with him.

Earlier, addressing an inter-faith meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) to pay homage to victims, he announced the establishment of an international fund for terror victims and urged Indians to contribute to it generously.

The details were not immediately available but an organiser said the FIA would hold a fund raiser shortly in which it hopes to collect $ one million.

The fund, he said, would be used for giving scholarship to the children of victims of the terrorist attacks.

Mr. Singh later laid a wreath on photographs of some of the victims.

- PTI

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