By M K Bhadrakumar
Deep-rooted contradictions are surging to the surface in India’s Sri Lanka policy.
The deep bonds of ethnicity, culture, geography and history make India and Sri Lanka inseparable.
Yet this is also a tragic story of the imperatives of geopolitics and the compulsions of domestic politics crisscrossing plain human dignity and compassion – especially for the land that gave birth to Mahatma Gandhi.
Flags of US and India in Washington DC, marking the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House, same time when a 'Tamil Awareness Rally' was taking nearby-Nov 2009
But for contemporary India, politics comes first. And politics is pitiless. Tamil nationalism has been traditionally a pond that the Indian politician occasionally visited for rejuvenation, and its attraction is growing as party politics in India has become highly competitive.
The Indian Parliament went into an uproar on Tuesday as two rival regional parties from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which have been vocal supporters of Sri Lankan Tamils, demanded to know the central government’s stance on a resolution on Sri Lanka coming up at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva.
The draft resolution is sponsored by the United States, France and Norway and it seeks the UN to assist Colombo to investigate alleged atrocities or “war crimes” committed by the state security forces during the bloody civil war as as well as implement measures of reconciliation.
As a matter of high principle, India should be supportive of the resolution. India is no more defensive about the human-rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir. In pragmatic terms, it even suits the ruling Congress party in the central government in New Delhi to project itself as the protector of Tamil interests. Tamil Nadu sends 39 lawmakers to India’s 540-member parliament.
In terms of realpolitik, too, India increasingly strives to harmonize with the international community; it recently attended the meeting of the “Friends of Syria” in Tunis, and voted in favor of the Arab League resolutions in the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, which sought to condemn Damascus on its appalling human-rights record.
Suffice to say, a good case can be made why New Delhi should support the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka.
But New Delhi is dithering. India pursued a cold-blooded policy of helping the Sri Lankan armed forces decimate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
It was sweet revenge for the LTTE’s murder of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. To distance itself clinically at this point from the river of blood that flowed in Sri Lanka, therefore, becomes problematic.
Yet to be seen condoning the Sri Lankan army’s war crimes is also antithetical to what India would like to profess as a democratic country.
As if the contradiction were not bad enough, New Delhi had estimated that its decisive role in helping Sri Lanka vanquish the Tamil Tigers would enhance its prestige and influence in Colombo. However, the LTTE’s destruction has only led to triumphalism in Colombo.
Riding a wave of Sinhalese chauvinism, Colombo overnight turned its back on the assurances held out to New Delhi that once the LTTE was done with, a fair, just and equitable solution to the root problem of Tamil alienation could be found. Plainly put, New Delhi’s capacity today to nudge Colombo in that direction is virtually nil.
One way it could resume its historical prescriptive role toward Colombo would be by playing a “creative role” at the UNHRC to negotiate some sort of modus vivendi between Colombo and Washington. But then, Colombo has shut its doors to any intrusive UN role in its internal affairs.
From the Indian viewpoint, Washington is also not helping matters. The assistant secretary of state dealing with South Asia, Robert Blake, continued the tirade against the Sri Lankan political establishment on Tuesday-
“Experience in many civil conflicts around the world has shown that countries that don’t take adequate measures to address reconciliation and accountability frequently experience a regeneration of the insurgency that they faced. We could see very much that similar situation in Sri Lanka”.
He said Washington wouldn’t allow a weakening of its resolution, which is expected to pass in the vote next week. A minister in Colombo promptly called for a boycott of US products.
Evidently, although India and the US are soulmates with regard to the Indian Ocean region – they will stage yet another big naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal in April – and the “containment” of China in the region, New Delhi cannot afford to alienate Colombo.
Sri Lanka is also astutely playing its “China card” – apart from stepping up high-level exchanges with Pakistan. Colombo has lately enthroned China on the same pedestal on which India used to be uniquely perched historically as Sri Lanka’s privileged partner.
On March 1, Sri Lanka’s powerful Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa (brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa), who was a pivotal figure leading the military campaign against the Tamil Tigers, was received in Beijing by Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Liang Guanglie.
Liang expressed gratitude for Colombo’s support for Beijing’s “core interests” and affirmed that China would continue to support Sri Lanka’s “efforts in safeguarding state independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and realizing social and economic development”.
Liang stressed that Beijing hoped to work with Colombo to “consolidate and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and improve communication and cooperation between the two armies”. Even more interestingly, he observed that China and Sri Lanka had “similar historical situations and wide common interests”.
Upon Rajapaksa’s return from Beijing, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry issued a statement last Thursday appreciating China’s “firm and consistent support in safeguarding Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
The discourse is manifestly aimed at the policymakers in New Delhi (and Washington). Colombo is telling the Indians to go and tell it on the mountain if they have notions of dictating policies to Sri Lanka.
Quite obviously, Beijing is also quietly but unambiguously warning New Delhi that there is a price to pay for aligning with the US and disregarding China’s “core interests” in the Asia-Pacific region.
But what is brewing ahead could profoundly transform the entire great game. Hopes are rising that the seawaters around Sri Lanka contain significant hydrocarbon reserves – especially the Mannar area straddling the maritime boundary with India (known as Palk Strait).
Now, this could turn out to be the South China Sea in reverse for Sino-Indian ties. New Delhi has rubbished Beijing’s protests and asserted its determination to collaborate with Vietnam to explore oil in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
Beijing warned of consequences if New Delhi persisted. It is payback time when Beijing decides whether or not to accept Colombo’s fervent invitation to come and prospect for oil in the Palk Strait in the waters that have lazily lapped India’s southern coastline from time immemorial.
New Delhi is frantically wooing Colombo not to disregard its sensitivities by allowing the Chinese to come in such close proximity to its coastline.
A team from India’s oil major ONGC Videsh visited Colombo in recent weeks to make a counter-offer, which was followed by an extended four-day visit by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. But the Sri Lankans are noncommittal. A senior official of the Petroleum Ministry in Colombo told the British Broadcasting Corp on Monday-
“They [Indians] have a lot of experience. Their knowledge is more than ours – they have a lot of seismic knowledge. And they have the funding – if we’re picking partners, they tick the boxes. But we’d like to see a diversity of investors”.
He said Colombo would “write to the whole world”, including China. Indeed, many countries have shown interest, ranging from Russia’s Gazprom to Vietnam’s state-owned PVEP (PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp) to France’s Total and some Australian, US and European companies.
Put plainly, Sri Lankans insist that the Indian Ocean isn’t India’s ocean, but they are prepared to negotiate over it. They are highly sophisticated practitioners of diplomacy and will see how Indian diplomats behave in Geneva.
Sri Lanka expects India to stand up and be counted as its friendly neighbor when the US-led resolution in the UNHRC comes up for voting. That expectation is going to be the bottom line for future India-Sri Lanka relations.
But on the other hand, the ruckus in the Indian Parliament on Tuesday also rang the warning bell that the tsunami of Tamil nationalism could engulf the Congress-led coalition government in New Delhi, which critically depends on the backing of Tamil MPs.
All this is being played out against a poignant backdrop of infinite tragedy with secret video recordings surfacing on the brutal point-blank execution of an innocent 12-year-old boy at the closing stage of the Sri Lankan war for no fault of his except that God willed him to be born as the son of the late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
The cup of Tamil anger will overflow after British television released the documentary on Wednesday).
(M K Bhadrakumar is a retired career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service who served in Countries like Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey. In Colombo , Bhadrakumar was the First Secretary (Politics)during the tenures of High Commissioners Thomas Abraham and SJS Chatwal)
In effect a little and puny island nation it seems is dictating terms to us India.
The LTTE was finished because it developed its air force or was using few aero planes and India was worried it could be used against us in Koodangulam.
When it went against the India’s strategic interests India took a stand to finish off LTTE.
Now the Sri Lanka is also doing to same thing and is threatening India.
What options does India have.
Certainly there will be a price to pay for.
There is a dictum that anything that goes against its source will perish, like the fire that came out of water will perish when it goes against the water.
Like the iron which is born out of rock will be useless when it strikes a rock.
Likewise both the Tamils and the Sinhalese have come out of India only and they cannot go against the interests of India.
LTTE paid for it and Sri Lanka thinks it can out smart us.
India will take appropriate actions there.
Right now there seems to be not many options there. But politics is the art of possibility and let us wait and see what happens.
The photograph of the young boy was first published at the defence.lk site. This photograph was discussed in this forum many times. DBSJ himself has touched upon the subject – interview with KP.
All this time the Disapora had amnesia and now woken up after Channel 4 thought it was good material to fan the flames.
NOw How many young one lost their lives do we or these do gooders forget the young Budhist priests hacked to death and whose pictures are still on the web. DO we not remember the picture of the father carrying his child after the bus carrying civilians were bombed.
There is absoloutely no evidence to point a finger that SLA killed the young one. We all know that Prabhakaran had strict instructions not to have anyone of his family to fall into the hands of the SLA. Why on earth did they carry cyanide capsules and why did prabhakaran himself have a guard with a petrol can to set him on fire so that his body even will not fall into SLA hands.
These facts are not given to the ‘White’ analysts who have now come with stories such as ‘He may have been witness to the execution of the guards’.
Why not state that ‘He may have been shot while he was asleep by his guards’?
The fact is that we dont know, we cannot tell either way all we know is that the young boy is dead.
This story about the young boy being executed is a new one. probably made up.
“But for contemporary India, politics comes first.” this is the misleading path India’s policy makers and politicians are following while dreaming to become supper power and key player in world order.
India should start to think about adhering to International norms in its local and international policies if India’s dreams to become a realistic hope.
” India will not become a superpower”
unless India changes it social , economic and political policies to match not only international norms but also implement it
As Mr Ramachandra Guha, renowned historian and author of India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy.
said in his thesis five reasons for his view , which is , The challenges which will hold India back, he writes, are the Maoist insurgency, the “insidious presence” of the Hindu right wing, degradation of the “once liberal and upright” centre, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, trivialisation of media, the sustainability of “present patterns of resource consumption” and the instability and policy incoherence caused by multi-party governments
India has a good opportunity to show its commitments to INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY on the above LISTED SHORTCOMMINGS starting with Srilanka .
THAT WILL BE GOOD AND POPULAR START LIKE Mrs Indira did on Bangaladesh.
DBS thank you for bringing this GREAT article to our attention,
“But for contemporary India, politics comes first.” this is the misleading path India’s policy makers and politicians are following while dreaming to become supper power and key player in world order.
India should start to think about adhering to International norms in its local and international policies if India’s dreams to become a realistic hope.
” India will not become a superpower”
unless India changes it social , economic and political policies to match not only international norms but also implement it
As Mr Ramachandra Guha, renowned historian and author of India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy.
said in his thesis five reasons for his view , which is , The challenges which will hold India back, he writes, are the Maoist insurgency, the “insidious presence” of the Hindu right wing, degradation of the “once liberal and upright” centre, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, trivialisation of media, the sustainability of “present patterns of resource consumption” and the instability and policy incoherence caused by multi-party governments
India has a good opportunity to show its commitments to INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY on the above LISTED SHORTCOMMINGS starting with Srilanka .
THAT WILL BE GOOD AND POPULAR START LIKE Mrs Indira did on Bangaladesh.
I think India considers own interests above Tamil sentiments. Sri Lanka depends on India for foreign relations with other countries. India can tighten screws on Sri Lanka.
Good article. Let’s wait and see.
India was trapped to this situation (what to do reg. UN resolution) thanks to US.
Without thinking far into the future as usual, Indians gave a nod to US to bring the resolution and now India is facing a little tsunami in and out. This is a deliberate thought out plan by US to push India to their fold without thinking future of India. India is playing with fire.. US try to get things done in Asia through India and India thinks US would support to contain China.. What a pathetic policy – “Contain China to embrace US.”
China is a very very friendly with all Asian countries and India is antagonizing every and each country in Asia. Upto now, India has only a one friendly country. That is Sri Lanka. I guess it is going to be changed soon..
If India think that her interests and US are the same, India deserved to go to the bottom of the Asian ladder.
Its very serious situation for India and Sri Lanka.
If this resolution fails to pass, it will give sri lanka blank check to continue its
suppression of Tamils. Sri Lanka will continue to play game with India and open up
Indian ocean to Chinese naval base.
On the other hand if India do support the resolution they will come out winning in many ways
not just in home politics. But also earn the respect of world.
What my worry if India does not support this resolution and it fails. There will be serious
development in Tamil Nadue, Tamils here are very angry and agitated with treatment of Tamils.
Supporting human rights is not Tamil Nationalism. M K Bhadrakumar couldn’t even understan this basic truth? He had served in Indian Foreign Service. No wonder! Eelam Tamils don’t care a rat of what India would do at UNHRC. Fear, fear,fear of Pakis, and China dicdates Indian’s forign policy.
DilshanFerdi
You people are not for giving political solution. That is the reason the Tamil extremism was born.
If this issue is not set right then it may come to haunt you and all those who stand by you, cheer you and support you.
India’s dilemma is understandable. It needs to maintain a working relationship with Sri Lanka to have persuasive dialog and influence in many other future issues including developing and implementing a viable solution to the Sri Lanka’s national question. Based on the need to balance the current and potential future issues, it may be that abstaining from the vote is prudent and tolerable under the circumstances provided the resoultion would pass without India’s support.
The basic concept of not supporting country-specific resolution may be appropriate for routine events but it is not acceptable for special major events like this one as UPR review is only for every 4 years. Special major events require special immediate attention. This is not a routine event, duh! How is it rational policy to wait as high as 4 years to address special major events that are also time sensitive?
India should rule out voting against the resolution as it will send a very bad message, particularly in view of the fiasco that it helped to pass the 2009 UNHRC resolution that rightfully praised Sri Lanka for the war victory but astonishingly failed to criticize the massive civilian deaths, alleged human rights violations and war crimes. India really needs to help bring a fair solution to the Sri Lanka’s national question in order to redeem from unacceptable actions regards to the resolution in 2009 and providing tacit approval to Sri Lanka for continuing the war despite knowing heavy civilian deaths, suffering and war crimes.
The general observation of India by the West is that India does not like others get involved in helping to solve problems in her backyard, Sri Lanka, but at the same time India is also not doing enough to aggressively pursue the issues. Sri Lanka has been playing hardball by using China and giving the runaround and reneging on the promises made during the war to get tacit approval from India. India needs to demonstrate more active, urgent and stronger leadership similar to that of the ally U.S. currently demonstrates on these issues.
Mahesh,
Sri Lanka reserves the right to make policy decisions in the best interest & security of Sri Lanka. We don’t need you to tell us how we should conduct ‘diplomacy’ or threaten us with consequences. It is upto India to decide her position with regards to UNHRC resolution initiated by the US. Based on that decision, Sri Lanka will take appropriate steps to defend herself. So, my advise to you is to not antagonise people by unnecessarily ‘mouthing off’, because it’s always better to have friends in your neighbourhood than creating enemies unnecessarily. Besides, you have no idea as to the ‘understanding’ & ‘friendship’ which currently exists between Sri Lanka & India. So, don’t worry, both our govts. are on the same page on a range of issues.
Regards,
Jazz.
In the case of Sri Lanka, China, India and Pakistan will join hands to save the island nation at any International forums. SL is not a big country but a place of defense importance. SL will be saved from vultures of the West!
Are the pro-LTTE Tamils telling the world that WEST is worried about the RIGHTS of the TAMILS?
Let us not forget that under Indira Gandhi India armed, trained and financed the LTTE in order to pressure the SL Government. At that time Sri Lanka was firmly pro-America and India was still in the grips of socialism and the USSR. How the wheel has turned! Karma eh?
Sir Winston Churchill wrote 64 years ago about India :
“Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues & silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power & India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air & water would be taxed in India.”
India indeed an incredible NATION; They have worked very hard and They indeed proved him right…..
Another blunder by LTTE and Tamil Eelam advocates for failing to exploit the oil reserves finding off Palk Strait. The finding is not new.
What Options has India got at UNHRC
1. Vote for the resolution
2. Vote against the resolution
3. Abstain
4. Negotiate with parties concerned to put the resolution off the table
America Said it wont allow further weakening of resolution, on the other hand Sri lanka is well known for a country of false promises and playing china card along with modern times no meaning or misunderstood phrase “Sovereingty.
India will not do anything to support Thamils now because Sonia Gandhi ( Italian Born Indian) is Anti Thamil as well as people like Subramania Swamy and Partha sarathy
Wait for BJP rule. I am very very confident Lanka will be invaded if west does not arrest war criminals under BJP rule
Under BJP rule Lanka will be invaded to arrest all war criminals
Jazz
Sri Lanka reserves the right to make policy decisions in the best interest & security of Sri Lanka.
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I too like you believe that my country reserves the right to make policy decisions and it should take one.
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We don’t need you to tell us how we should conduct ‘diplomacy’ or threaten us with consequences.
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I never threatened you. I only was only stating facts there.
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it’s always better to have friends in your neighbourhood than creating enemies unnecessarily.
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Same thing goes every country isn’t it?
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So, don’t worry, both our govts. are on the same page on a range of issues.
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That is what I am telling. Let everything come out in the open.
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No one cares about Tamils in Sri Lanka or Sri Lanka as country. Do not expect Tamils in TN or Central govt in New Delhi or US or UK to care for the well being of Tamils or Sri Lanka. We, as Sri Lankans must work together to resolve our issues through meaningful dialog, mutual tolerance and understanding. At the end we will only have each other.
Look
What happened to Thamilans is a horrible crime against humanity
Now It has become an international issue. Total number of Thamilian deaths in Lanka is much higher than total deaths in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia
So Now World is asking how the war criminals are arrested in these countries but not in Lanka
It is going to happen and The Ravanas of Lanka do not have time or place to hide
You can run but can not hide
There are good ravanas in lanka also but in my humble opinion most of the Ravanas in Lanka have mentality like Hutus of Rwanda
India will not be able choose between Tamil issue and international relationship with Sri Lanka. If it take the side of Tamils still it will not give any guarantee that Sri Lanka will be severely punished as USA resolutions bring no such condition. In that channel still Sri Lanka have means of survival. The out come is more Chinese lenient Sri Lanka who deeply mistrust India. This scenario will put India in much difficult security situation and China might dreaming for such out come which India is well aware. If India taken side of Sri Lanka it has to forget tamilnadu in next general election. If India absconds from voting both Tamils and Sri Lanka will show its fist at Indian central government. Other way if Sri Lanka today means tomorrow Cashmeer to India when USA or west need to hurt it for what ever the reason. The best channel for India is negotiate with USA behind the curtain and put up diplomatic pressure to come up with a solution which make both Sri Lanka and India out of any harmfull mess even in a voting at UNHCR. This might be the same reason why Sri Lanka president never stop smiling to camera all the while putting all all the local mess under his carpet by using UNHCR resolution as excuse.
Dr.Bharath
If BJP comes to power, they will run busses to Pakistan. Further BJP is a gut-less party and has no interest about Sri Lankan issues! They are another coolie party of USA and use HINDU issues to get votes from majority Hindus of India! They are a bunch of power hungry idiots.
Do you know the number of the Tamils killed by LTTE criminals? You cry like a fool!
Ofcourse India will vote in favor of the resolution.
A U.S. backed resolution to put Colombo in its place for courting China. Tamils couldn’t make happier pawns.
Did India ever find out who handled the Rajiv assassination?
Politics is the art of deception.
Dr Bharath says:
March 15, 2012 at 8:23 am
Under BJP rule Lanka will be invaded to arrest all war criminals
Dr. Bharath,
You are free to have your dreams.
But , I don’t think, the BJP will antogonise a Hindu Nation.( As for as BJP is concerned, Srilanka is a Hindu nation, though they do not express it explicitly).
BJP has lot of plates to clear (Which may take centuries) , before they can consider coming for Srilanka.
M.Sivananthan says:
March 15, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Dr.Bharath
If BJP comes to power, they will run busses to Pakistan. Further BJP is a gut-less party and has no interest about Sri Lankan issues! They are another coolie party of USA and use HINDU issues to get votes from majority Hindus of India! They are a bunch of power hungry idiots.
Sivanathan,
What is wrong in running busses to pakistan ?
Pakistan was part of India just about 60 years ago. Thousands of Indians and pakistanis have relatives in both the countries. Even today, arranged marriages are happening between the two countries. Infact, the new ISI(Pakistan Intelligence Service)cheif is a relative of Sharuck Khan, the leading Bollywood actor.
Your outbursts agaianst the BJP are unwarranted and out of context here. Just because Dr. Bharat gets sweet dreams of BJP , you can’t criticise BJP left, right and centre. After all , can BJP stop Dr. Bharat from experiecning fond dreams BJP and having a pleasant ejaculation in sleep ?
If India does not vote in favour of the US resolution, it can only mean that India does not have the moral courage to deliver even a slap on the wrist to Sri Lanka that has committed horrendous war crimes, human rights violations etc. This will give the licence to Sri Lanka to continue thumbing its nose at its neighbor forever and continue with its undeclared agenda of transforming the country into a unitary Sinhala Buddhist state and totally trampling the rights of all other communities.
Mahathama Gandhi will then turn over in his grave and all Tamils can completely write off India from all future deliberations and action plans as it would prove to be totally ineffective and helpless against the intransigence of tiny Lanka!
Sri Lankan Leaders are in constant touch with the Indian leaders. Even if India decides to support the resolution
It is unlikely to pass. India will most certinly pull sri lanka out of trouble ande it is still unlikely to make a huge impact in Tamil Nadu in the longer run. Business and money over everything else
Angan
Congress government shut the borders with Pakistan. Dont you know it? You know well how Indian cities were blasted by Paki trained terrorists after BJP opened the border.
Ravi Perera says:
March 16, 2012 at 7:56 am
“Sri Lankan Leaders are in constant touch with the Indian leaders.”
and also with chinese leaders.
Ravi continues his premature ejaculation thus
“Even if India decides to support the resolution
It is unlikely to pass.”
If the resolution does not pass,i will shave my head and become a bhuddhist monk.
After his wet dream is over ravi washes his sarong and says
“India will most certinly pull sri lanka out of trouble”
India will pull srilanka out of trouble if srilanka is a good little well behaved boy and does as it is told.If srilanka goes against india thinking it has china card,the same way JRJ and prabha did thinking they have US and western nations backing them then india will put srilanka into trouble instead of pulling it out of trouble.
Ravi has knowledge and culture,but lacks wisdom.Therefore he is not fully educated as per Dr.Rajasingham Narendran’s definition of education.
M.Sivananthan says:
March 17, 2012 at 3:19 am
Angan
Congress government shut the borders with Pakistan. Dont you know it? You know well how Indian cities were blasted by Paki trained terrorists after BJP opened the border.
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sivananthan,you fool,you don’t need the borders to be opened or closed for terrorist attacks on indian cities.The mumbai attack was done by coming from the sea from karachi,hijacking and indian trawler poaching in pakistani waters,killing the 4 seamen and making the captain take them to mumbai,then using dinghies to come ashore after killing the captain.
Also haven’t you heard of the indian mujahideen who can set off bombs if they want to,and that there are more than hundred million muslims in india,being the second largest muslim population in the world second only to indonesia which has 245 million but follows only a very mild form of islam.
sorry.Made a mistake.Indian muslims are not the secondlargest in the world.Pakistan and bangladesh have more.Dunno about nigeria.Though it has 155 million people there are a lot of christians and indigenous faiths too.
Dear Shankar, India has the third largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan.