Sri Lanka: Reading between the lines on Indian delegation to Colombo 

By Col. R. Hariharan

There are both positives and negatives in the reports on the Indian parliamentary delegation’s six-day visit to Colombo. The reports include a statement of Mrs Sushma Swaraj, the multi-party delegation leader issued at the end of the visit, as well as inputs on the press conference she addressed in Colombo.

But what was left unsaid can be read between the lines in these reports. These are equally important to gain a balanced perspective on issues that impact India-Sri Lanka relations.

Despite the polemics generated in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka after the two major Dravidian parties boycotted the delegation, the delegation appears to have done a fairly good job bringing back the focus on the post-war issues critical for the growth and sustenance of India’s friendly relations with Sri Lanka. In this respect, this delegation defied Ms Jayalalithaa’s description as a “mere eye wash”.

In fact it has done a more creditable job than the Kanimozhi led-delegation of Tamil Nadu MPs (belonging to DMK, Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi) which visited Sri Lanka (October-2009) on “a fact-finding mission” that came out as a botched-up political PR job. Mrs Sushma Swaraj, experienced leader of the opposition in parliament from the BJP, ably led the delegation and had a clear agenda focusing on current issues bugging India-Sri Lanka relations. The BJP has been sympathetic to the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and wanted India to take a strong stand on some of the basic issues. The Congress members, known individually for their clarity on Sri Lanka issue, probably had a competitive interest in performing better than the BJP. All these things have contributed to the delegation’s performance.

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