New Delhi
20 September 2006
New Delhi's hands-off policy towards Sri Lanka's ethnic question is
being called into question by policy makers and political parties in both countries
although the Ministry of External Affairs maintains India is playing an "active role behind
the scenes".
After Norway, a clutch of Sri Lankan-Tamil lawmakers sympathetic to the LTTE's cause
have invoked the "special, historical relationship" with India to New Delhi's greater
involvement of India in order to arrive at a "stable, sustainable and durable" solution to
the decades-long conflict.
A Norwegian official has told this newspaper that India was nudging the United National
Party to cooperate with the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party but a more active Indian
participation was a necessity to encourage Colombo to take a sensible approach and to
resist the temptation of employing a military solution.
According to an analyst writing for the Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict
Studies, "India's assiduous policy of keeping itself away from island politics is only
prolonging the struggle. While the Indian position may have been acceptable in the past,
recent developments require a change in Indian policy."
"There now appears to be a greater willingness on both sides for a political solution. The
key issue remains greater autonomy versus Eelam. The intransigence of the Tigers
[has] become so whittled as to accept greater autonomy as a realistic option. In such a
situation, Indian mediation, as in the case of Nepal, could well prove to be the need of
the hour," the analyst said.
An official on the Ministry of External Affairs, however, said New Delhi was playing an
active role behind the scenes. "We are in touch with Sri Lanka Co-Chairs. India has to
rely on Norway because LTTE is a banned outfit in India," he said. "If it is agreed that a
separate state is ruled out and the existing state structure is not enough to meet the
legitimate aspirations of the Tamils, then a viable political solution could be found in any
of the Indian models of governance like a union territory, Darjeeling Hill Council or
Bodoland. There are a number of models we can share," he added.
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