Sri Lanka - News and Discussion

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 10 Jun 2010 12:17

India, Lanka to step up defence ties
http://telegraphindia.com/1100610/jsp/n ... 549416.jsp

Kashyap · Post by **Kashyap** » 10 Jun 2010 19:02

Surya wrote:
India helped, but only in the latter stages when it looked like the LTTE was going to get defeated.
Rubbish

The suggestion is without Indian help the LTTE could have been defeated.

Bullcr@p

even the SLA knows all the Chinese arms etc are good but what really turned the tide was Indian help which will go unrecorded for political reasons

Which I am ok with

Believe what you want to believe

... If India hadn't armed, trained and funded the LTTE and sponsored terrorism like Pakistan the war would have been over long ago. Afterall it was Indian soldiers who died over the last few years fighting the LTTE wasn't it.

Since India was absolutely instrumental in defeating the LTTE, one of the world's deadliest terror groups which its own IPKF couldn't do, let's see how India defeats its own insurgencies in Kashmir, the North East and the maoists.

Kashyap · Post by **Kashyap** » 10 Jun 2010 19:19

Muppalla wrote:Inspite of India's emotional relationship with Tamils in SL, India always helped SL in several ways to defeat LTTE. I disagree with this "new notion" that India only helped in the last couple of years. The problem was always with the "head-strong-paki-style" past leadership of SL. If SL co-operated during the IPKF times, LTTE would have been a past long time ago. Instead of helping IPKF, SL's "paki-style" Premadasa and co actually supplied the arms and ammunitions to LTTE. At that time for the SL leadership IPKF was a bigger enemy as compared to LTTE. They prolonged the conflict.

If India didn't arm, train and fund the LTTE there would not have been the need for an IPKF in the first place. And India really didn't do much to help defeat the LTTE over the years; this is my opinion. If India really wanted to defeat the LTTE it would have happened a long time ago. Arms and ammunition were still being smuggled into Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu when India could have easily put a stop to it. Indian politicians still cheer and flag wave for the LTTE. I wouldn't be surprised if there are quite a few from the "old school" Indian hierarchy who are upset over the defeat of the LTTE, as they saw it as a means of controlling Sri Lanka. That's why some of the ex military folk have been quoted as saying it is a "loss of influence." So India is no different from Pakistan in this respect, using insurgent groups as proxies to exert influence. This attitude has been amply displayed here by some bharat-rakshak posters over the years, who always pull out the "we will support insurgent groups in Sri Lanka if Sri Lanka does not do as we want" card as part of their threat repertoire. It's getting old.

Several global affairs helped Rajapaksha along with a willing India to defeat their internal enemy.

If push comes to shove and if SL gets back to older style leadership, India will have several aces no matter what the world may think.

The good path is for SL to be in the foreign-affairs ring of India as opposed to extreme-independent approach that many non-pragmatic SL folks assume. Otherwise you will be in a 1000 year conflict like our western neighbor with no real human development.

The choice is SLs and India is ready for anything.

Why not deal with the insurgencies in Kashmir, the North East, Pakistan, China and the maoists first, else it is India that will be pepetually in turmoil. In my opinion Sri Lanka is more stable and peaceful than India right now while bombs and terror attacks keep occuring in India. There is no real threat to Sri Lanka at present while India sees a bogey behind every Pakistani, Chinese, Bangladeshi and looks like Sri Lankan now. Indian threats and jingoisim such as yours aren't going to change that fact.

Sri Lanka already has an ace: China. And it needs to keep that ace just like all other neighbours of India. India has a regrettable tendency to take its smaller neighbours for granted. It is thanks to China that this arrogant attitude has changed for the better. The difference between India and Sri Lanka is that Sri Lanka has excellent relations with all its neigbours, while India does not. Infact, the only 'show case' relationship that India can really talk about in South Asia is the one it has with Sri Lanka. It is not good for a country aspiring to be in the Security Council when it doesn't inspire the confidence of its neighbours.

So the choice here is not for Sri Lanka, which has built cordial relations with all her neighbours. It is up to the regional power India whether to inspire confidence it is neighbours and assume a leadership role for the region, and greater Asia, or act like an arrogant, self-obsessed country bullying its smaller neighbours (as it has done so in the past). Unlike Pakistan and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka has already accept India's pre-eminent position and its leadership.

Becoming one of more states of India is ideal (though not practical) for all in terms of human development.

Not going to happen anytime soon...although it may happen one day. Disbanding the Sri Lankan cricket team and replacing the Lion Flag with the tricolour? I do not forsee that happening voluntarily. And Sri Lanka has already done quite well on human development without being a part of India. Perhaps it is India that should emulate Sri Lanka there.

Kashyap · Post by **Kashyap** » 10 Jun 2010 19:51

Indian government agrees to lend US$ 1 billion for Sri Lanka's infrastructure projects

Jun 10, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Treasury Secretary has said today that India has agreed to lend US$1 billion to fund Sri Lanka's infrastructure projects, mainly in former war zones in the north and east.

"India assured US$ 800 million for the reconstruction of railway and a further US$ 200 million for a power plant," Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara has told Reuters in a mobile phone text message from India.

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_10A/ ... 6400CH.php

India, Sri Lanka agree to strengthen bilateral security framework

New Delhi, June 9 (ANI): Condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday agreed to consolidate security and legal framework of their bilateral relationship and signed two agreements in this context.

On the second day of his four-day State visit to India, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa met the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh that was followed by delegation level talks.

http://www.24worldnews.com/india-sri-la ... ork/19667/

India and Sri Lanka Enter New Era

By Paul Beckett

A year ago, Sri Lankan government was being sharply criticized by human rights groups and some western government officials over the severity with which the government destroyed the remaining forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Still, the country is seeking to rehabilitate its reputation in some international circles, going so far as to hire a public relations firm, London-based Bell Pottinger, to get the small nation more favorable press and hosting last weekend’s International Indian Film Academy awards in Colombo.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010 ... r-new-era/

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 20:11

Bravo Kashyap. May your breed mutiply and prosper.

Muppalla wrote: If push comes to shove and if SL gets back to older style leadership, India will have several aces no matter what the world may think.

In the Mid-20's when Srilankan politicians poke their fingers up in our back, we used the poor tamils in lanka to settle scores with them ("to keep them in line"). Now, they are beaten and beaten really badly. Thousands and Thousands of innocents died in the last stage of war and hundreds of thousands are still suffering. They don't have the strength to stand up and fight again (at least for another couple of decades, by that time, there won't be any majority tamil areas in lanka). So, what other ace are you talking about? Invading directly? arming muslims? propping up the JVP? Now that tamils are neutralized, if lankans decided to go in bed with chinis & Pakis (I am sure they will - "to contain India"), let us see what options do we have. Let us talk about worst case scenario. What aces do you think India has up in it's sleeve?

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 10 Jun 2010 20:27

Kashyap, go read about your country's history in any journal archive such as jstor before pontificating and throwing ==s on India and your lahore friends, who bombed the eff out of your crikkit team. The slfp and the unp in its various forms funded sinhalese extremists and terrorists such as JVP and its earlier forms, before launching a full-frontal attack to annihilate them when the JVP grew too big for their boots. The very same Mahinda Rajapakse was one of those sinhalese extremists in his earlier days "protecting" Buddhist and neo-Buddhist interests by arson and violence. The 1983 pogroms against the Tamils was a genocide committed by the sinhalese on the Tamils. Neither has there been a truth and reconciliation on this sordid saga, nor has it been accepted by the sinhalese that they ever committed a genocide on the Tamils, almost all of whom batted for SL against India when such a choice came to the fore. Why did the Burghers and the anglo-origin-people leave your country in such mass numbers if SL was such a paragon of beauty? What was the reason for Junius Jayewardene's conversion to Buddhism? I can posit that only pedophiles such as arthur clarke can claim SL to be a safe haven, that is how brazen your country's violations and records has been on anyone who has asserted his non-Buddhist credentials.

India will support the Tamils if their rights are discarded into the trash-can by any community, be it the sinhalese or the timbuktoo-ans. If such a situation arose for the sinhalese in the hands of your comrade-in-arms the chinis, India will still support the sinhalese and arm them to fight for their genuine rights. If you bring in religion-based fundamentalist logic like the pakis do, you shall find rejoicement only in the ace that is up your derriere, viz. the chinis. Best of luck. And surely, no sensible, rational and constitutionally-minded Indian would want a racist, genocidal, religious-supremacist subset of the population in the form of extremist sinhalese in our midst. We have enough nutjobs already. The first and core maxim towards being embraced by India should be religious equality as enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Short of that, have fun and stick where your country is, stick with your bigoted newly-minted Constitution, let us be the neighbors that we are and move on. If shit came to shove, Hambantota would be debris and thats a fact that the chinis well-know and so do those that matter in SL. As for the sinhalese nutjobs who rejoice in chini warmth, best of luck.

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 21:06

BBC Hard talk with Gotabaya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLU5_18h8GY

A lengthy but well written article by DBS J.

The “Intermestic” Tamil issue in Indo-Lanka Relations
http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/1454

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 10 Jun 2010 21:20

Believe what you want to believe ... If India hadn't armed, trained and funded the LTTE and sponsored terrorism like Pakistan the war would have been over long ago. Afterall it was Indian soldiers who died over the last few years fighting the LTTE wasn't it.

jeez where did you go to get your debating skills

Yes we armed the LTTE - a mistake in execution (even though your politicians callously treated the Tamils) we tried to right and paid in blood

but even after we stopped arming - for years the SLA could do didly squat and in fact was almost overrun and needed the IAF to be put on alert for bombing runs to prevent your garrisons from completely collapsing. Ask me - my friend made recce runs for that task.

Regarding our insurgencies - well we are not in the business of whole sale assault and we are not an island where a foreign navy helped you to choke the arms supply

As for your China card - please go ahead and play it - see what happens. Go on - I beg you to play it

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Jun 2010 21:40

Surya wrote: Regarding our insurgencies - well we are not in the business of whole sale assault and we are not an island where a foreign navy helped you to choke the arms supply

And also ensured that none escaped via the sea route.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 10 Jun 2010 21:41

Yeah! Sri Lankan Navy mysteriously and out of blue discovered those floating LTTE arms depots....way out in the Indian Ocean. And iirc, they had to tow one of their OPV to sink one of these floating arms depot - which was located somewhere off the coast of Australia

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 21:56

Surya wrote: As for your China card - please go ahead and play it - see what happens. Go on - I beg you to play it

Ahem.. They did play that card and played it nicely. Remember what their then General and lover boy fonseka said at the height of the war? "Either India help us or else we go to Chichom and Packies" (and they did. The port Chichom is building for their holiday trip???). Kashyap is not alone in his thinking. What was the response from our Delhi Mandarins then? They peed on their pants and start bending backwards and complied fully with SLan's request. Here in this very same forum, there was a "oooo.... they are going to go to chicks and paks. Give them what they want..ooooo" posts by our esteemed member(s).

If they can threaten India even at the height of the war, what is going to stop them now that the threat to their country is gone??

What stick do we have now? "Bending over even more backwards" stick?

The only stick we had was the tamils and it is broken now (why do you think the LTTE was made to survive this long?).. lol.. face the reality and bend over..

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 22:04

chetak wrote:
Surya wrote: Regarding our insurgencies - well we are not in the business of whole sale assault and we are not an island where a foreign navy helped you to choke the arms supply

And also ensured that none escaped via the sea route.

Aren't we so proud of it? Destroying our very own strategic asset in that area and cheering for it?

. Don't worry. It is going to come and bite us sooner than we think

archan · Post by **archan** » 10 Jun 2010 22:16

There is another country that thinks of terrorists as "strategic assets" and I can see its implications on them. I am glad Bharat doesn't.

negi · Post by **negi** » 10 Jun 2010 22:53

It is unfair to draw parallels between LTTE and terrorism emanating from TSP and to talk of India's role in same vein as TSP is even more preposterous . India unlike TSP has had no designs or plans to make territorial gains in SL , unlike the situation in J&K the friction between the SL natives and Tamil minority in SL was never instigated by GOI , hell where was LTTE when shite like Sinhala only Act came into being and numerous riots that took place until the 70's ?

GOI has its own compulsions when it comes to directly confronting the LTTE but then same has been the case with addressing naxal and maoist issues within our boundaries , so to see things in B&W and imply that GOI was all along supporting LTTE or even complicit with latter in its campaigns is WRONG.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 10 Jun 2010 22:53

never were a strategic asset for us except in a few parochial minds

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 22:54

archan wrote:There is another country that thinks of terrorists as "strategic assets" and I can see its implications on them. I am glad Bharat doesn't.

Our "strategic assets" were tamils (Didn't we use it earlier when we needed it?) and it was destroyed pretty nicely and violently (with our own help

-- we are soooo proud of it) in the early/mid 2009. Just one year passed and you can see how the Sinhalese started changing their tune. Wait for few more years for the full implication of that destruction

negi · Post by **negi** » 10 Jun 2010 22:59

^ Boss why degenerate Tamils by considering them as mere assets ? LTTE by going down an extremely violent route only weakened their own case.GOI's gradual shift in its policy is a clear indicator of the fact that our support was all about protecting Tamil interests LTTE or no LTTE and we did send our forces to fight against the LTTE when it was clear that LTTE had simply lost its way as far as safeguarding of Tamils was concerned.

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 23:00

Surya wrote:never were a strategic asset for us except in a few parochial minds

ahh.. the usual "parochial minds"

Delhi Mandarins must be the big parochial minds when they trained the tamil militants all over India. Dixit must be have had parochial mind when he called them "our boys".

Let us recap what we did in SL. We helped the tamil militants to "teach the singalesh a lesson" and then we destroyed our very own creation (yes, singalesh should be blamed for the major screw up but let us not deny our hand it it) and now what. you guys are trying to convince them that you helped them??

Excellent..

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 23:08

negi wrote:^ Boss why degenerate Tamils by considering them as mere assets ? LTTE by going down an extremely violent route only weakened their own case.GOI's gradual shift in its policy is a clear indicator of the fact that our support was all about protecting Tamil interests LTTE or no LTTE and we did send our forces to fight against the LTTE when it was clear that LTTE had simply lost its way as far as safeguarding of Tamils was concerned.

Ok boss. Now, let us talk from Indian point of view. Now that LTTE is destroyed (whether they are violent or not is irrelevant now. They are gone. Out of picture) and the tamils are put down violently (LTTE is made of tamils after all and tens of thousands of innocent tamils died in 2009 alone), defeat of LTTE in May 2009 was the defeat of the tamils itself. Whoever left don't have the stomach to stand up to the singala government (even if we wants to "help their cause") and to act as our "stick". If you read Kashyap's post (He is a singalesh by the way.. if you haven't noticed) and he is not alone in his assessment, they are and will going to use china card. Are we going to live with it or are we going to give more carrot, carrot and more carrot to appease them as much as possible or do we have any stick? Let us talk from Indian point of view.

negi · Post by **negi** » 10 Jun 2010 23:17

^ I think more than India or SL its always been about the 'Tamils in SL' , from Indian pov I think it is in our interest that the affected Tamils be rehabilitated and normalcy restored , that is what Rajpaksha and his govt should ensure for a start. India is SL's immediate neighbor and they have to live with that , the recent pacts signed between the two governments only goes to show it is in SL's interests to be in India's good books , as far as SL is concerned unlike in Nepal's or Myanmar's case Lizard owing to its geographical location does not bring the same stuff to the table as India .

--sticky fingers

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 10 Jun 2010 23:18

we armed the lankan tamils so that they could stand up for their rights, it was a legitimate survival strategy for an under-siege population and didn't stem from any parochialism or 'to teach the lankans a lesson'. the principal armed tamil group, LTTE however used its newly gained power to eliminate all moderate tamil leaders who could have posed a challenge to their leadership and in time became a willing tool for some western powers to meddle in the region. equating the tamil people to a terrorist organisation like LTTE is a serious disservice to ordinary tamils. in retrospect, the motive was not a problem, the execution was.

and some 'strategic asset' it was for us, who assassinated a former PM of the country !

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 23:25

negi, First of all, thanks for not bring in the "parochal", "terrorist support" , "tamil extremist" card before presenting your argument.

negi wrote:^ I think more than India or SL its always been about the 'Tamils in SL' , from Indian pov I think it is in our interest that the affected Tamils be rehabilitated and normalcy restored , that is what Rajpaksha and his govt should ensure for a start. India is SL's immediate neighbor and they have to live with that , the recent pacts signed between the two governments only goes to show it is in SL's interests to be in India's good books the Lizard owing to its geographical location does not bring the same stuff to the table as us.

See.. this is the problem with majority of the Indians here. They think the issue started with LTTE or with with "Singala only" act etc. The conflict has much deeper root than this. The issue didn't start with SL's Independence. It is a 2000+ year old conflict, much older than the Hindu-Muslim conflict.. and TN always had hidden or direct hand in it. As long as TN is part of India, Singalesh are not going to trust India and going to play China card and as long as tamils are there and singalesh thing that Island belongs to Singalesh only, TN is not going to stand in the sideline and watch the slaughter. This is trick situation for India. There is no black and white solution for it. How do you deal with that?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 10 Jun 2010 23:29

SankarS wrote:......... As long as TN is part of India, Singalesh are not going to trust India and going to play China card and as long as tamils are there and singalesh thing that Island belongs to Singalesh only, TN is not going to stand in the sideline and watch the slaughter. This is trick situation for India. There is no black and white solution for it. How do you deal with that?

so let's hear your suggestions. till now you have only talked about how the current situation is not going to work.

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 23:33

Rahul M wrote:we armed the lankan tamils so that they could stand up for their rights, it was a legitimate survival strategy for an under-siege population and didn't stem from any parochialism. the principal armed tamil group, LTTE however used its newly gained power to eliminate all moderate tamil leaders who could have posed a challenge to their leadership and in time became a willing tool for some western powers to meddle in the region. equating the tamil people to a terrorist organisation like LTTE is a serious disservice to ordinary tamils. in retrospect, the motive was not a problem, the execution was.

and some 'strategic asset' it was for us, who assassinated a former PM of the country !

Rahul, Our intention was not a holistic "ooo.. poor tamils, let us help them" kind of thing. Whether you agree or not, it was more of a "you scartch my back and I scratch yours (tamils)" strategy and many wrote about it. Yes, assassinating our former PM was the biggest blunder LTTE did and thus did a massive disservice to ordinary tamils (the one who they claimed to protect).

We seem to hang up on the past. So, what do you think we should do in worst case scenario. It seems no one is ready to talk about it.

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 10 Jun 2010 23:37

Rahul M wrote: so let's hear your suggestions. till now you have only talked about how the current situation is not going to work.

Nothing.... I don't have any I can think of if shit hits the fan..

It is advantage Sinhalese/Sri lanka now. Do you have any? They can play china card, Paki card or timbaktu card and I would like to ask our esteemed member who "love to see them try". Let us ask them.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 10 Jun 2010 23:52

worst case scenario as in SL goes back to the genocidal days of the last century ?
first of all IMHO it is very unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future. the LTTE days haven't been exactly picnic for the lankan people and they would be foolish indeed if they start on the same road all over again. SL doesn't have too many friends in the international community and if they again start repression on tamils they are going to lose India's support too. now whatever they may think of china, it is still a country 1000's of km away that finds it extremely difficult to project power beyond its territorial waters, let alone taking on the IN and IAF on its home turf. SL knows this well, at least rajapakshe's attitude towards India suggests so.
there was this comment by premadasa on the lines of "India has a powerful military with mirage fighters and a strong navy. it's an unfortunate fact" (quoting from memory, so please ignore any inaccuracies)
that assessment still stands and the lankan administration knows this well, if India wants, she can take any unilateral military action in SL with impunity, china or pak notwithstanding.
so the crux is this, if sri lanka does revert to the anti-tamil days, India will exhaust every peaceful means of dialogue, diplomatic and economic before thinking of a stronger option.
but if ever push comes to shove and all peaceful means are exhausted, make no mistake about it, we will deal with the problem militarily.
that said, I can't believe the SL govt will act that stupid in the near future, they did play the pakistan card in the past, it didn't serve them well at all.

p.s. you are mentioning the china card and pak card. what is it exactly that SL would play these cards as ?

rahuls · Post by **rahuls** » 10 Jun 2010 23:53

One card we can play is the human rights violations and join the west in some sort of investigation in SL. But this has a time frame, probably up to 5 years, after which its no longer useful. I guess Rajapaksha knows this very well and playing his cards well.

I think the primary concern for India should be the rehabilitation of Tamils in to SL main stream. As long as this is done we should be OK. The china card shouldn't be a major problem, I think it can be taken care of by playing the economy card. For this to happen we should integrate SL more into Indian economy, and I guess that is what the Indian govt. is trying to do (CEPA etc.)

SankarS wrote: Yes, assassinating our former PM was the biggest blunder LTTE did and thus did a massive disservice to ordinary tamils (the one who they claimed to protect).

I think the biggest strategic blunder LTTE did was assassinating fellow Tamil intelligentsia, murdering former PM has taken away whatever support they had.

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 11 Jun 2010 00:07

Rahul M, Thanks for your detailed response on the "worst case" scenario. I was more of thinking about it from Indian point of view (what if SL government go in bed with China & pakistan. Like giving base to Chinesh etc. Don't say they learned their lesson. Destroying LTTE, "the number one terrorist org, in the world", made them otherwise. They are more confident or should I say arrogant than ever before). Tamil case is totally lost. You can remove them altogether from the picture. 2010 is not 1983. As a matter of fact, 10 times more people died in 2009 alone (compared to 1983) and everyone was happily cheering the singala government. East is totally lost for them. It is only a matter of time before a Sinhalese become an Eastern CM. North is going to experience the same fate and this time they can and don't have a strength to prevent it.

SL has 200K military personal now. That is what 1/5th of Indian military? Add BDs, packies and chichoms. This is the worst case scenario.

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 11 Jun 2010 00:11

rahuls wrote:One card we can play is the human rights violations and join the west in some sort of investigation in SL. But this has a time frame, probably up to 5 years, after which its no longer useful. I guess Rajapaksha knows this very well and playing his cards well.

Right on the dot. All the cry about "war crime" now???

I just wonder who/which government is behind all these noise.

I think the primary concern for India should be the rehabilitation of Tamils in to SL main stream.

you need both hands to clap...

SankarS · Post by **SankarS** » 11 Jun 2010 00:13

Rahul M, how can I send you a PM? I need to send a PM to one of the forum/site administrator but it appears I am not allowed.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 11 Jun 2010 02:03

Take out India and place a china or UK or US in the place where India is and then assess how that power would have behaved for similar situations with respect to SL. I gaurantee SL would not have survived to even discuss in this thread. All other discussion points are just illusions and false ego.

India arming LTTE is no wrong and I do not accept other members' view here. India armed them to give them a chance against genocide and wanted to control them. India though secular etc., considers SL as dharmic ( means real human rights and justice for all) and does not want to tolerate anti-Tamil drives in SL. The other drivel that India created LTTE and other anti-SL activites becasue of pressure from TN is just drivel. Believe it or not - India is a country created as equal to everyone. If Tamils or anyone has a problem the country tries to help/solve. Sometime it fails. There is no special things happened due to Tamil angle. It would have been the same even if there are all Punjabis in SL and similar treatment is meted to them. We gave independence to Bangladesh when their population was subjected to genocide. Had Pak listened to India like Rajapaksha, things may have been different. The pheripheral countires need to listen to the boss otherwise there will be more problems for those countires. India has all the wherewittal to the games of attrition.

India never wanted LTTE as some strategic asset and when it has the handle and also when LTTE had a different approach which is not in the direction of what India wanted, we ensured that LTTE gets its end even at costly sacrifices. If push comes to shove, we alway can find threads. There is no doooomsday for SL Tamils there. The world is made of several complexities and it is easy to pickup one of the threads and move on that. Just don't worry SL is a pheripheral country and India will always have an ace.

Regarding human development, SL is smart and is not doing like our other neighbors with perrinial thoughts of screw India. If India allows then only SL will have the human development. If India thinks let us screw SL there will be none. It is just an illusion to think "let me do something that antogonizes India" and then also keep developing better than India's human development.

India's weakness is a perception and the elephant takes care of everyone slowly but surely.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 11 Jun 2010 02:20

We helped the tamil militants to "teach the singalesh a lesson" and then we destroyed our very own creation

Nope - we armed them because the Tamils were being marginalised and victimised.

They were not created by us - propped yes - created no.

they cause their own destruction

All this has been debated endlessly here.

Worse case scenario - rubbish - thats like the US right wing talking up Venezuela as a threat.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 11 Jun 2010 03:24

It is interesting to watch the Srilankan scenario from different perspectives. It looks like the whole thing is repeating like Buddha's cycle of birth and rebirth. Having won over the the terror, everyone hoped Srilankan govt will keep her promise of sharing what the basic Tamil aspirations are. But now I think there is not many strategical thinkers among Sinhalese majority or those who think of taking their country towards a glorious future are increasingly marginalised by the chauvenists including the present political mindset.

The Tamil people in Tamil Nadu began just like the same protest long back in favour of Srilankan Tamils. In India too Congress is not going to be power for ever when they are out, others policy may change. The language of the newspapers in TN and the language of those who led the protest remains very similar to 1982 and later when presidents arrived in India. This was the starting point then went on collecting money for helping SL Tamils and then went on arm struggles and so on. I think within five to ten years we will see again an arm struggle as the present government does not provide anyother options but a struggle for SL Tamils in north and East against SL govt. Even those who led the war against SL govt did not have any strategical thinking of obtaining Eelam rather just fight foolishly against SL govt all the time alongside their internal conflicts.

I think it is time for Srilankan leadership to sit and think carefully first not to isolate his country from the rest of the world by doing what presently they do. Set up a committee beyond political alliance to bring suggestions for what needs to be done in the North and East. There should be some listening from Sinhala majority groups JVP and Budhdhists priests to bring harmony and peace among communities along with Hindus and Muslims in their country. Some of the basic grievances of Tamils should be addressed immediately such as equal citizenship and other issues. There should also be some small state assembly in the north that would enable Tamils to work alongside with Sinhalese and find a way forward and forget all revenge and enmities within a decade. If such serious attempts are not made then the cycle of violence would be back unfortunately.

Also a sincere commission on human rights abuses must be made with the help of a few organisation (HRW/UNHCR) to study into the individual cases where such abuses have happened. In Tamil Nadu too people wanted to see a peaceful and rich neighbourhood rather than conflicts nearby. It will not take a long time for India to turn against Sri lanka if she does not fulfilled what she has promised before getting help from India. Both India and Srilanka are both interdependent in some ways though SL may not like this much. Nepalese have realised this as a neighbour. SL should also look into all those countries Chinese red army was involved they never got out of their problems and all those countries declined for ever in Africa with their internal conflicts where Chinese red army was involved. If India is pressuring in the wrong direction then one may call it bullying but what is being suggested is best for both nations democratically and for growth in peace. Chances will never come again!!!!

PM presses for full rights to Tamils in Sri Lanka
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_pm ... ka_1394224

Lanka’s obligation
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/747 ... ation.html

India pushes Rajapakse on devolution, offers help
http://www.asianage.com/india/india-pus ... s-help-982

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 11 Jun 2010 05:32

Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon have its first fighter air base in Southern State TN

Such a full-fledged fighter air base and the decision to position a squadron of combat jets has been prompted by “enhanced capabilities of adversaries” in recent days, top sources in IAF told this newspaper. “There is definitely a need to protect strategic assets in the south given the fact that our adversaries have long range missiles and ship-launched cruise missiles,” the sources said. Besides, a combat squadron would help maintain superiority over the Indian Ocean and protect sea routes in that region. “From Sulur it will be easy to do the aerial equivalent of a flag march over Sri Lanka and the Maldives, should the need arise,” the sources added.

There are two options for SL
(1) Be friendly with India and also treat Tamils in SL as per India's wishes and don't have too much of independent foreign affairs a la Bhutan. That will get you the economic and human development. Shed the ego

. We will love you guys

(2) Be egoistic and Paki. Join the club of N.Korea, Burma, Lybia etc. Go after nuke wallmart and try something Paki after India. Make every other India's adverseries as friends and try for various strategic depths. Also take a discount-club-card of Nuke Wallmart to have dirty bombs to threaten Jaffna and Chennai. While doing that you can have human dev index like that of Wazirsthan.

vina · Post by **vina** » 11 Jun 2010 06:07

defeat of LTTE in May 2009 was the defeat of the tamils itself. Whoever left don't have the stomach to stand up to the singala government (even if we wants to "help their cause") and to act as our "stick". If you read Kashyap's post (He is a singalesh by the way.. if you haven't noticed) and he is not alone in his assessment, they are and will going to use china card

Don't think so. SL is having peace after nearly 40 years , peace of the grave no doubt, but some peace all the same. Now, the Sinhalese are not the smartest cookies around by any measure and I really wouldn't put it past them to "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity", but if they had anything inside their skulls, they would take this opportunity to reach out and address long term demands of the Tamils.

Without that, the insurgency IS coming back. Maybe not now, but in another 25/30 years /next generation. There is a time for war and there is a time for love. Now, if you want to stop the war from coming back, you need "love" .

Lets face it. SL is unviable and locked in a fratricidal conflict within it's current borders if the current distance nay enmity between it's two principal ethnic groups continue. The solution is 1) Go with separate states (ie two countries) or 2) Go truly multi ethnic and go for a grand settlement.

Now if option 1) is not acceptable, the only way out is option 2). The onus for that rests wholly with the Sinhalese. They should walk the extra mile and make the compromises necessary by devolving power and true federal powers to the Tamils.

Okay , you don't want a Federal Sri Lanka , but want to have a "Unitary State", good, why not finesse it something on the lines of India which goes by "Federal in structure, but Unitary in Spirit"

?

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 11 Jun 2010 07:32

SankarS wrote:
Aren't we so proud of it? Destroying our very own strategic asset in that area and cheering for it? . Don't worry. It is going to come and bite us sooner than we think

SankarS ji,

Whatever else the ltte was, it WAS NEVER an Indian "asset" as you put it.

It's sources of funding, weapons and inspiration were tied in very deeply to regressive western politico religious hegemonic forces that are inimical to India.

To view it as just a simple "Tamil problem" would be extremely foolish. These tamils are not our Tamils, never have been and nor will they ever be.

These ( on both sides of the border, so to say) "tamil" guys are anti national and their stated aspirations are eelam which includes a large part of Indian territory that has to be "liberated".

Why are we pissing in the wind about these "gentlemen" when we should be pissing on them? They have not given up the idea of eelam. Why are we hell bent on sharpening their knife?

We have such foolishly wishful thoughts like " a strong and prosperous pakistan is best for India" Want that we should make the same mistake in srilanka?

The equally treacherous but grasping sinhala are no better. Its best to maintain arms distance from both parties. We already have our plates full.

Just make some non committal and sympathetic noises and leave it at that. The DMK types are realigning for the next general ~~corruption~~ oops, elections.

The whole world is now aware of the culture of such "Tamil" parties. Should we foolishly trust our foreign policy to them as well??

Maybe the good Rev. Fr. Jegath Casper should be made foreign minister while we are at it and a leading tamil politician's daughter be crowned queen of this newly envisaged eelam.

The sinhala deserve all this and more. For them to try and bury the tamil question is akin to a pregnant female applying tiger balm on her swelling belly hoping that the problem will go away.

It will only get bigger and India may not be in such a benevolent mood the next time around.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Jun 2010 09:32

sankars, PM is limited to mods at the moment. you can email me at rahulm.brf ATT jeemailDAT kom

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 11 Jun 2010 16:49

30 years have passed since the ethnic conflict in Lanka boiled over.The first "new" trouble actually started in '81,JR sabotaging the Disrict Council elections and minor disturbances at that time,which was a foretaste for the future ('83).One must remember the corrosive effect of the Cold War at that time,where the island was host to the machinations of both East and West.The West (US) in particular was trying to squat in the island militarily through propping up the arch crony-capitalist govt. of JRJ.This had serious implications for India as the island was to be used as a means to engineer anti-Soviet pro-Islamic propaganda through a planned VOA station,which evoked much controversy in Inia and SL at the time,and also allegedly to infiltrate India through the back door stirring up southern separatist tendencies,amply borne out by the support for the LTTE by foreign powers and vested interests in TN.This was why Mrs.G did not want the Lankan crisis to spread to TN and supported the Tamil "militants" at that time,to put pressure upon JRJ to come to a political settlement,sending G.Parthasarathy,veteran diplomat to assist the Lankans.After Mrs.G's death,Rajiv was ill advised to broker a peace settlement by guaranteeing the de-militarisation of the LTTE through the IPKF.There were many nations involved who wanted India to fail and Rajiv to "take a dive".

The situ now is that India and the GOSL have common cause to eliminate any residue of LTTE terrorism/separatism,which is foreign funded and assisted.Def.Sec. Gothabaya Rajapakse in his BBC interview pointed out to Sacur that while some western nations were critical of the Lankans,important nations like "India,Russia,Pakistan,etc." militarily assisted the GOSL in defeating the LTTE.The Lankans and the current dispensation well know that India is their most important friend and neighbour and both natons aretrying hard to arive at mutually favourable agreements that allow the Lankans to maintain their sovereignity with pride while allaying India's fears about China,Pak,etc.,getting a fothld in the island to India's detriment.
The "Tamils" of Lanka,must be categorised as pro-LTTE "Jaffna Tamils",who have little truck wiht the other Tamil groups in the island who are of more recent Indian origin.This fact has been lost for decades upon the northern dominated babudom in Delhi,never understood in all our dealings with Lanka,which a veteran diplomat confided to me not too long ago.It is why the denizens of Delhi still pander to the treasonable activities of some so-called leaders in TN and why the LTTE's diaspora is trying hard to re-enter northern Lanka through the gateway of Tamilnadu,where for 30 pieces of silver,some TN politicos are willing to sell their country.

Let us not forget that the huge Lankan pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora can muster a few hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the "cause",as they were doing for Prabhakaran and in the future once they've identified their stool pigeons or new core leadership,will try yet again to succeed where fuhrer Prabhakaran failed.

Venkarl · Post by **Venkarl** » 11 Jun 2010 18:31

Rahul M wrote:sankass..

wondered what wrong sankuji had done...

...prev page made things clear.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 11 Jun 2010 18:36

It is not about Sanku but it was for SankarS. RahulM spelled it wrong.