A welcome statement

The unequivocal statement made by Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena that there will be no let up in the current military offensive against the LTTE whatever the developments in the State of Tamil Nadu, while injecting a huge morale boost to the Security Forces would also serve as a firm reassurance to the public now eagerly awaiting the fall of the last bastion of the Tigers, that this would not be another Vadamarachchi.

Any misgivings in this regard was laid to rest by India’s ruling Congress Party Spokesman Abhishek Singhvi alluding to Tamil Nadu concerns about the current military offensive. He has stated in no uncertain terms that India will not interfere with the sovereignty of other countries.

While conveying the concerns of the Tamil Nadu parties to the Sri Lankan Government he said the Indian Government has limitations on the Lankan Army Offensive. In other words, India will not come to the rescue of the LTTE this time around.

Addressing a media briefing on Wednesday Minister Yapa who is also a frontline Government spokesman said the Government will at no stage suspend the on going offensive merely because of protests launched by certain elements in Tamil Nadu.

He also emphasised the fact that Sri Lankan Government only deals with the Central Government of India which is of the view that terrorism should be eradicated. Therefore it is clear that both India and Sri Lanka are on the same wavelength on the need to defeat terrorism. Besides, India faces threats from many other terror groups. No doubt the present rumpus kicked up Tamil Nadu politicians for the intervention of India to halt the ongoing offensive had naturally evoked the spectre of the Vadamarachchi episode in many. On that occasion when the troops were closing in on Prabhakaran the Rajiv Gandhi Government intervened to bail out the LTTE leader.

Much water has flown under the bridge since then. To begin with the intervening years has witnessed a sea change in Indo-Lanka relations and major policy shifts. The personal rapport and special relations cultivated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa with Indian leaders have also served to considerably improve Indo-Lanka ties blotting out past misunderstandings.

That was a time when India played godfather to the LTTE having armed and trained the outfit on its soil. That was also a time when India was firmly hitched to the Soviet bloc in a bipolar world. Sri Lanka’s close alliance with the US naturally raised Indian concerns.

Things though have changed dramatically with the end of the Cold War and the realignment of forces. Today India is a firm ally of the USA having signed a nuclear deal with the sole super power. In fact India is now vying for economic supremacy with China and has no time for regional power play or hegemonic designs on its smaller neighbours.

India has come a long way from those days of arming and training the LTTE. It is now providing military training and expertise to Lankan soldiers and also have provided us with sophisticated radar equipment to stall the LTTE air threat.

Besides the Rajiv Gandhi assassination put paid any chance of India coming to the rescue of the LTTE (the outfit also became a dirty word in Tamil Nadu immediately after the killing). However, the upcoming election in India has driven the bit players in the Tamil Nadu polity to throw up issues in the power stakes. They have seized on the offensive in the Wanni as a lever to rock the boat for the Centre.

That the Indian Government has refused to be moved by these sentiments has been amply proved by the official statement of the Congress Party spokesman. The Congress party headed by the Gandhis has no reason to plunge into a direct intervention in Sri Lanka.

Besides it cannot justify to the Indian electorate another intervention in Sri Lanka given the supreme price paid by over 1,400 Indian troops in the island. This matter is bound to have a stronger resonance with the larger electorate than the Tamil Nadu factor.

More than anything the Congress Party had sent out a clear message that India will respect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. Its spokesman said “Those who make demands about other sovereign countries should know that India’s sovereignty runs through the boundaries of India”.

Singhvi said the Indian Government cannot interfere with the sovereignty of other countries. That then is the bottom line.