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Post-LTTE: India’s Policy Options on Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Issue

N Manoharan
Senior Fellow, CLAWS, New Delhi
e-mail: mailtomanohar@gmail.com

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been waging a relentless war for a separate Tamil homeland, have now been tamed. The LTTE’s top leadership has been wiped out; most of its cadre are dead; some have surrendered and the remaining are scattered. The fall of the LTTE coincided with the re-election of UPA government in India and India’s overall policy towards Sri Lanka, therefore, is not expected to change dramatically. The new government under Manmohan Singh however, will want Colombo to address two key issues on a priority basis.

First, India requires Sri Lanka to take up humanitarian relief for those affected and displaced by the conflict. Several thousands are wounded and hundreds of thousands displaced. In this regard, India has already announced a grant of more than Rs.1 billion which included dispatching over 100,000 packs containing rations and shelter material for a family sufficient for three weeks. Separately the Tamil Nadu government has announced a package of Rs.250 million as humanitarian relief. India is also considering the expansion of its 50-bed hospital in Trincomalee manned by a 62-member medical team from the Indian armed forces. India will also increase the size of the de-mining team that is presently operating in the country to ensure that civilians have access to more safe areas than is possible at present. Depending on the first hand report by Indian envoys comprising its Foreign Secretary and National Security Advisor, India is considering an additional Rs.5 billion aid package exclusively for the displaced civilians. The next step is resettlement of the displaced at their place of origin. India can cooperate with other countries and aid agencies involved in the relief and resettlement to evolve a coordinated approach. This is presently missing.

Second, India believes that the Sri Lankan government should seriously work on a political solution that “includes devolution of power, participation in the election and full rights for Tamils as citizens of Sri Lanka.” India’s consistent position on the island’s ethnic issue has been in favour of “a politically negotiated settlement acceptable to all sections of the Sri Lankan society within the framework of an undivided Sri Lanka and consistent with democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights.” In this regard, India wants the Sri Lankan government “to put forward a credible devolution package at the earliest.” Ideally, India is pushing for a ‘13th Amendment plus plus formula’ as a final solution and the implementation of the 13th Amendment as an interim measure until a final solution is reached through the processes of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC). The underlying problem with the APRC is that important parties like opposition United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are not part of the Committee deliberations. Thus, the principal objective of generating a consensual political document on the ethnic issue is lost. Unless this shortcoming is overcome, all efforts of the APRC would go in vain. Realising the importance of the ‘southern consensus’ and most importantly of a bi-partisan agreement between the two main Sinhala parties of Sri Lanka (UNP and SLFP), India has urged the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to work with President Rajapaksa on the ethnic issue.

Although India discouraged the Sri Lankan government from exercising the war option, it did not restrain itself from providing non-lethal military supplies to Sri Lanka and training of Sri Lankan security personnel. This is where India was all along caught in a dilemma: having to maintain good relations with Sri Lanka in all spheres, but, at the same time, also taking into consideration sentiments from Tamil Nadu and the interests of Sri Lankan Tamils. With the LTTE off the scene, this dilemma has been resolved, at least for the time being. However, India should take cognizance of further inroads by China in Sri Lanka on the pretext of aid and development. Colombo should also understand that giving undue space for any power that might turn inimical to India is not good for India-Sri Lanka relations in the long run.

Apart from the above two demands, India should make every effort to pressurize Sri Lanka to begin a process of healing and national reconciliation. Without an appropriate reconciliation process, the wedge between the two communities – majority Sinhala and minority Tamil – cannot be bridged. A sustainable peace can only be realised with such a process. It is indeed a long-drawn process that requires Indian help on a sustained basis.

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