Sri Lanka and India haven’t had a bilateral engagement at the top-most levels in governance, reflecting the changing priorities in New Delhi towards its immediate neighbourhood. A series of issues between Sri Lanka and India since the close of the Eelam war IV in May 2009, which saw the demise of the Tamil Tigers, has seen New Delhi cold-shoulder Colombo for over two years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has held bilateral meetings with his south Asian counterparts, either in New Delhi or in the capitals of these countries in the past year. While there was no official bilateral meet with Pakistan, its President Asif Ali Zardari met Dr. Singh in New Delhi in April this year — that was the first time in seven years that a Pakistan President was meeting the Indian Prime Minister.
Before his visit to Myanmar, Dr. Singh was in the Maldives (November 9-12, 2011), and became the first head of a foreign State to address the People's Majlis; toured Bangladesh in September 2011; met Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Bhutan King Jigme Wangchuck, and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New Delhi, in October 2011.
That leaves out Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the only leader in the region whom Dr. Singh hasn’t consciously met in a formal bilateral forum — the two leaders have met on the sidelines of the 2011 SAARC summit in Addu City in the Maldives, and the last session of the United Nations General Assembly. These meetings are necessarily hurried and short, and nothing of substance can be discussed at any length.
The last time an Indian Prime Minister visited Sri Lanka was in 2008 — that too wasn’t for a bilateral meeting; it was for the SAARC summit.
The last bilateral summit between the two countries was when Mr. Rajapaksa visited New Delhi in June 2010. In his meetings with the Prime Minister, Mr. Rajapaksa made a series of promises, on devolution and related issues. None of these promises was kept, Indian officials said.
These assurances were repeated when Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna visited Sri Lanka and met the President in January 2012 and, yet again, in April this year, to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. The promises have remained on paper.
After the end of the war, India has pressed for a political solution to accommodate the legitimate hopes and aspirations of Tamils in Sri Lanka's Northern Province. New Delhi was repeatedly assured by Colombo that a solution would be found, even going beyond the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. The Amendment, which many Sri Lankans say was thrust on it by India in 1987 as part of the Indo-Sri Lankan accord, granted certain powers to the Sri Lankan provinces. Though this provision exists in the Constitution, it has never been implemented.
Dr. Singh had, in fact, accepted an invitation to visit Sri Lanka in June 2010. Asked why a visit couldn’t be worked out, a senior Sri Lankan official said the Foreign Ministries of both countries had to work out details of the visit. “You should ask your Ministry of External Affairs. We are ready to welcome your Prime Minister anytime,” the official told The Hindu, when asked what outstanding issues stood in the way of a visit.
It isn’t merely Dr. Singh who seems to be staying away from Sri Lanka. His Cabinet, too, is. After the visit of Mr. Krishna in January 2012, there hasn’t been a senior Cabinet visit to date. The earliest slated visit is that of senior Congress leader and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, in July. He has been invited by the Kadirgamar Institute, and will arrive here on a short visit on July 11.
Mr. Rajapaksa is in Thailand on a bilateral visit. He has recently been to Qatar, South Korea, Singapore and Pakistan.
Keywords: India-Sri Lanka relations, Eelam War IV, LTTE, 13th Amendment
The reality is geopolitics comes first. If SL strays out of GOI's projections, there will be interferance. As astude leadership will play the game skillfully for the benefit of the country. If not will have to facethe music.
What happened in UNHR is not backstabbing. Failure of SL's diplomacy.
It is true that the SL president has not kept the promises. But in all fairness, those are not easy promises to keep. There is no trust between the Tamils and the Sinhalese because deep down, influential Tamil groups (though they are a small minority) want nothing but a separate state. India needs to recognize that. It is the same reason why Kashmir cannot be settled easily. If India is a friend of SL (which I think it is), India should recognize the enormity of the challenge. We do not trust the Whites, but we would dearly like to trust the Asian nations. SL is certainly not blameless. But, it is not a black and white issue, as portrayed by the Tamils on this site.
Raj Davis: You should have added, "commit genocide in the name of economic-suppression with India's help"!
India has a lot to learn about Sri Lanka, since Indra Gandhi left.
The IPKF suffered immensely, and all the help India gave to SriLanka to Kill several thousands of innocent Tamils has not got them anywhere. Dialogue with JR Jeyawardane took India for a ride.
India should learn to use their intelligent well educated people it has - do not place uneducated people in top positions merely for their name sake.
Sri Lanka used to have lot of respect for India. Then when India started training the terrorists, it started eroding. Then they lost a former Prime Minister to a terrorist bomb. We sympathised. Now, India has again started flexing its muscles. Yes, we are a small country. Yes, you all did not allow us to finish the terrorism more than in 1987 by threatening us with your air power. But their is something called divine justice. One day it will come upon you. Hope India will be wiser not to take to the wrong path and bully a small neighbour again.
The fishermen issues are inter-mingled with terrorist infilterations. If the fisherman keep to India territorial waters, these unfortunate incidents would not occur. What will happen if pakistani terrorsists start inter-mingling with Sri Lankan fishermen? We do not want that to happen and for India and its people to suffer at the hands of terrorists again. But bullying your neighbour is not the way to peace.
It is high bloody time that India kept away from Sri Lankan affairs. Sri Lanka is in no need of Indian help or advice in any field, whether it is it's internal or external matters.
Keep your Indian might and live without bullying neibours. We are an independent Country. We do not need you. Let SriLankans live in peace.
Is this a big deal? Sri Lanka can survive without a self appointed big brother that sucks up to the Americans; the only such hypocritical nation in the Asia sub region. This was prove time and again; most recently at the UNHRC vote on human rights issues in Geneva. What could India do to Sri Lanka - invade? to put it in a crude way - "my big foot like hell". Sri Lanka will survive without being a friendly nation to India.
India has no right to talk about these issues as her house is not clean. Even the Indians are not permitted to roam around India especially to the states where the Govt. is engaged in worst activity, let alone report them.
Sri Lanka suffered 30 years under the terrorists trained in India by the central govt. and Tamil Nadu. We do not want such 'friends'. It is too bad that we are family:-(
We do not miss Indian leaders in Sri Lanka. We have enough friends in the neighborhood. We know what happened when pro Tamil Rajive came to Sri Lanka, forced Indian 13 on to us (sorry that Tamils blew him away). So fewer Indian leaders coming to Sri Lanka the better for us.
Sri Lanka is consciously staying away from backstabbing Indian politicians who invite
imperialist forces to the region and become lackeys to those forces. It is a good
thing that Rajapaksa does not bend backward to please these Indians.
India funded,trained and armed LTTE and other terrorist groups in the eighties, and then thrust upon SriLanka 13th amendment and sent IPKF to disarm terrorists. This failed miserably to solve any problem. Finally Rajive and R.Pemadasa ware murdered. In 2009 only we were able to solve the problem. A model based on the constitution of a sub continent will not solve anything. Majority of Tamils live outside the Nothern province.
It is best that Sri Lanka strikeout its own path without Big Brother watching over the shoulder.
To Jay.Gunasekara,
Are you sure it did not do any wrong to India? What about killings of south Indian fishermen?
India is now sounding the same tone as the Eelam Tamil Political Leaders in the sixties and seventies, ie: Sri Lanka's assurances on political solutions were not carried through or accomplished. India should have known or listened to Tamils when they (Tamils) said, "once the war is over Rajapakses will not listen to India nor other world leaders." This is now real to see and hear. Rajapakse brothers are now saying, "No ethinic problems, only terroist problems in Srilanka and North is not for Tamils and therefore Sinhalanaisation is happening in the North; in the certain parts of the East this has almost completed". India's reluctance (and inaction) to understand Sri Lanka's attitude and act is the major obstacle to solution.
save the sermons for your govt. which at the drop of a hat runs to India begging for assistance, if not India would not have come with the 13th amendment.
If that be the case why cannot your President officially decline to implement the 13th amendment instead of giving hopes to the Tamil population and assurances to the Indian govt. that they would implement 13plus
Unfortunately Srilanka has a surruptitious neighbor to the north nobody in the neighborhood likes.The experience of the 13th amendment to the constitution forced down the throat of president Jayawardena by means of gunboat diplomacy should be revoked and tell the Indians to solve their problems in Kashmere and Jammu than meddling in the affaires of a country that never did any wrong to India.
It shows the mentality of the Srilankan state towards Tamils and the international community.
India must show its disdain and disapproval for the large scale killing of Tamil Tigers and other peaceful Tamils who have been butchered by Lankan troops in 2009.
It is imperative for the present govt. of sri lanka to implement schemes to re-habilitate the poor Tamils who lost their homes in the civil war. thanks
It is decent analysis of recent events in Sri Lanka.
The history thought that no Sri Lankan leaders ever kept their
promises that they have made to Tamils S W R D Bandaranaike to Mahinda
Rajapaksa. India knew this very well but question why do the keep
believing in Sri Lanka's empty promises?
If India wanted to show they are ready to be member of UN security
council, it is now time to start with teaching a lesson Sri Lanka.
what a surprise, commit genocide in the name of economic-suppression ,
and you get cold shoulder are you surprised?
Please Email the Editor