THE visit of President Mahindra Rajapaksa to New Delhi in November coincided with LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabakaran's statement that the 2002 "ceasefire" agreement in the island-nation had become defunct. The rebel leader said that the Tamil minority was left "with no other option but an independent state".
There are also credible reports that the Norwegian diplomats who facilitated the signing of the ceasefire agreement and the peace talks are on the verge of giving up. They blame both sides for the war-like situation that has re-emerged in the island. The Norwegians came in for increasing criticism from both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE as the fighting escalated. India wants Norway to continue to facilitate the efforts to keep the peace process afloat.
New Delhi, which has for some time kept out of the internal politics of Sri Lanka after its bitter experience in the late 1980s, seems to be perturbed by what is being perceived as "intransigence" on the part of the Sri Lankan government in recent months. The island-nation has been virtually plunged into a full-scale war for the past several months.
With a tenuous peace established in neighbouring Nepal, India would like Sri Lanka also to have a similar political climate. The ethnic strife in Sri Lanka is already impacting on domestic politics. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has conveyed his misgivings about the deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka. Almost all political parties in Tamil Nadu are against Rajapaksa's proposal for joint patrolling of the Palk Straits. The Indian government has so far refused to accede to this proposal and the one for a defence pact.
Before the high-level meeting between the two sides, senior Indian officials let it be known that the Rajapaksa government's failure to implement a meaningful devolution package had contributed to the breakdown of the peace process. New Delhi has indicated that it would like Colombo to give the North and the East maximum autonomy within a united Sri Lanka. From the Indian government's viewpoint, Rajapaksa has been unnecessarily stalling. Rajapaksa's repeated statements that the LTTE does not represent the will of the Tamil people have also been regarded as untimely, given the highly volatile situation.
Ever since assuming the Presidency, Rajapaksa has given the impression that he would prefer a military solution to a negotiated devolution of power. The massive bombing campaign conducted by the Sri Lankan forces in the past couple of months has led to a major humanitarian crisis leading to a renewed influx of Tamil refugees to India. Before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Rajapaksa, the Indian Foreign Office spokesman said that there should be "early progress in the peace process so that all ethnic communities in Sri Lanka can live harmoniously and are able to achieve their aspirations."
Rajapaksa told Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that his government would present its interim proposal for the devolution of power by the middle of December. He told the media that he had "straightforward talks" with the Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh conveyed India's "concerns" on the human toll the conflict had taken and the sharp increase in the number of refugees crossing over to India. The Indian side raised the issue of the rise in civilian deaths after the conflict escalated. New Delhi announced that essential food supplies and other humanitarian assistance would be despatched to the North and the East of the island.
New Delhi conveyed its inability to play a more direct role in the peace project, reminding the Sri Lankan side that the Indian government does not recognise the LTTE, which is still classified as a "terrorist" organisation. "The LTTE is still banned and Prabakaran is still a wanted man," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. However, the message to Rajapaksa was that there could be no "military solution" to the conflict.
Rajapaksa said in New Delhi that his government would like to purchase food stocks from Tamil Nadu. The closure of the A-9 Highway by the Sri Lanka Army has led to serious shortages of food and other essential items in the Tamil-dominated areas in the North.
The Tamil side has described it as a "blockade" of the civilian populace. Rajapaksa told the Indian side that the increase in civilian deaths was mainly because of the LTTE using civilians as "human shields". He added that he had asked the armed forces to exercise more caution in the future so as to minimise the number of civilian deaths.
John CherianCOMMents
COMMents
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