The Hindu : Indian military team in Sri Lanka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 06, 2003

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Indian military team in Sri Lanka

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI SEPT. 5. An Indian military delegation is in Sri Lanka to assist the country's armed forces on the training front, highly-placed official and diplomatic sources told this correspondent.

This is the first time since the Indian Peacekeeping Force pulled out in March 1990 that the Indian military is directly getting involved in the security affairs of Sri Lanka.

The sources said the military delegation was an "inter-services one" with representation from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

Though Sri Lankan officers are routinely trained in Indian military establishments, the current mission is said to be different. The idea is to assess the training and security requirements of the Sri Lankan military.

Several parties involved in Sri Lankan affairs have been telling the Government of India that it cannot afford to maintain a completely "hands-off" approach on security issues.

The setbacks suffered by the Sri Lankan military and its inability to re-open the land and rail route between Colombo and Jaffna (a job that the IPKF did soon after arrival in July 1987) are facts that cannot be ignored.

From Sri Lanka's point of view, they have been proposing for quite some time that the security of the two countries is inter-connected. In fact, the Sri Lankan Government has even suggested that the navies of the two countries conduct joint exercises.

Interestingly, the India-Sri Lanka Accord of July 29, 1987, provides for cooperation between the two countries on the military front.

For instance, one of its clauses said: "The Indian Navy/Coast Guard will cooperate with the Sri Lankan Navy in preventing Tamil militant activities from affecting Sri Lanka."

It also said: "In the event that the Government of Sri Lanka requests the Government of India to implement these proposals, the Government of India will cooperate by giving to the Government of Sri Lanka such military assistance as and when requested."

There is a certain symbolic message that India is sending out through its delegation's presence in Sri Lanka — that New Delhi retains a vital stake in Colombo's security.

It is a signal that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will certainly not miss.

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