Asia Times: India/Pakistan


	June 15, 2002	atimes.com

India/Pakistan

Tigers no obstacle to Sri Lanka-India ties
By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - In a region where bilateral relations have been determined more by conflict than cooperation, the emerging India-Sri Lanka relations come as a breath of fresh air. During Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's five-day visit to India this week, the two countries focused on areas of agreement, rather than allow differences to impede a fruitful partnership.

A joint statement issued by the two sides at the end of Wickremesinghe's visit said that the Lankan prime minister had "apprised the Indian leadership of the current status" of the peace process and that India "remains fully supportive".

While little is known of what actually transpired in the talks between Wickremesinghe and his Indian interlocutors, it is believed that the Lankan government's proposed deproscription of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would have dominated the talks.

Wickremesinghe's government has announced that the ban on the LTTE would be lifted 10 days ahead of the start of peace talks, which are scheduled to begin end-June or early July in Thailand. The LTTE has insisted that the ban on their organization be lifted ahead of any talks, while the government is waiting for a "firm date" for the talks to be set before deproscribing the organization.

While India is fully supportive of the peace process, this support is complicated by the fact that the LTTE is also banned in India. Furthermore, the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, is wanted in India for allegedly masterminding the assassination in 1991 of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Unlike the Sri Lankan government's, India's position on the Tigers remains unchanged. The ban on the organization, first imposed in 1992, was extended last month for another two years. Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after his meeting with Wickremesinghe that on the issue of Prabakaran's extradition "there is no change in the government of India's position".

In April, the Tamil Nadu state assembly passed a resolution calling for Prabakaran's extradition, a call that was echoed by Congress, India's main opposition party in parliament. Influential newspapers such as The Hindu maintain that "there is no question that New Delhi should not resile from its demand for the extradition of Prabakaran".

For Colombo, which is seeking accommodation with the LTTE leader, India's persisting calls for his extradition could indeed complicate matters. Sections in Sri Lanka believe that by holding on to this position, India is obstructing the peace initiative. However, as an editorial in the Indian Express says, "India ... recognizes that if it were to insist on the arrest and deportation of the LTTE chief, it would be undermining the very peace efforts it would like to see succeed. India would, therefore, prefer to turn a blind eye to the talks rather than raise hard questions about the ethics of negotiating with an alleged murderer [Prabakaran]. After all, India realizes that the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has continued for far too long and any step to end it needs universal support."

It does seem that for now Colombo is content to work around India's position, for it has much to gain from India's anti-LTTE stance. India's extension of the ban on the LTTE, for instance, works to Colombo's benefit as it will serve to limit the functioning of the organization's network overseas.

"What is refreshing about India-Sri Lanka relations is that the looming difficulties on the extradition issue notwithstanding, the two sides are pressing for cooperation on economic and other issues," an official in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs told Asia Times Online. It is Colombo that is pushing a lethargic India and providing the momentum for the deepening engagement.

New Delhi has offered Sri Lanka 300,000 tons of wheat and softened the terms of a US$100 million credit line for import of items from India. The two sides have also decided to expand their free-trade agreement (FTA) and iron out problems regarding its implementation, especially with regard to increasing market access to Sri Lankan goods. Indian officials will go to Colombo early next month to put the FTA on a fast track. The two sides have agreed to undertake a feasibility study on a proposed land bridge connecting Tamil Nadu with northern Sri Lanka. A land link would have significant impact on trade and other ties between the two countries.

Wickremesinghe's push for greater economic engagement has been widely praised in India. An editorial in The Times of India says, "Mr Wickremesinghe's economic diplomacy outlines a more enduring framework of bilateral relations that New Delhi would be well advised to pursue. His efforts to formalize an engagement making India and Sri Lanka stakeholders in each other's economy could lead to similar efforts between New Delhi and its other neighbors ... given that increasingly economics is the determinant in international relations, this is a refreshing approach in the South Asian context."

Wickremesinghe's efforts to draw India into a closer economic relationship are driven by a well-charted strategy. He is determined to revive the Sri Lankan economy. To that end, any help India could extend would be welcome.

Besides, by increasing Indian economic engagement on the island, Wickremesinghe is seeking to deepen India's stake in political stability in Sri Lanka and therefore an interest in ensuring the success of the peace initiative.

Sri Lanka is leasing out an oil storage facility at Trincomalee to the state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC). The agreement will allow the IOC and the Indian government to use their own security to protect the facility at Trincomalee - this could mean stationing of Indian troops there - weakening any LTTE attempt at taking control over the city should the current peace initiative collapse. The Tigers have in the past claimed Trincomalee as the capital of Tamil Eelam - the separate state they have been fighting to establish.

Instead of drawing India diplomatically or militarily into the peace process - this strategy has failed in the past and it is unlikely that New Delhi will be willing to intervene directly - the Sri Lankan government is using economic and strategic bait to keep New Delhi on its side. India's support is crucial to the success of the peace process. What the Wickremesinghe government has done is to ensure that this support is tilted on its side.

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