India's premier visited the tsunami-wrecked Andaman and Nicobar islands yesterday to view first-hand relief operations and reassure traumatised inhabitants life will return to normal.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters he came to tell "people that normalcy will be completely restored in these beautiful islands" which was hit hard by the killer tsunamis.

About 1,205 people are confirmed dead and 5,531 still missing and feared dead on the Andamans which lay close to the epicentre of the underground earthquake off Indonesia that triggered the giant waves on December 26.

Nationwide the death toll stood at least 10,012 people and 5,624 missing, most feared dead, with the hardest-hit state Tamil Nadu recording 7,941 dead.