Why do we not invade Sri Lanka?

[india twentyone]

They allow the Chinese to build satellites for them and share its access together letting the Chinese survey Indian territories.
They allow the Chinese to build infrastrucures like airports in their territory which pose security threats for India.
They always leverage Indian support by threatening to go pro-China.
They are gradually slanting diplomatically towards China.
The Sri Lankan government is highly corrupt and has held back the country's development.
It has a severe human rights violation record against its citizens of Indian origin and still refuses to respect their rights.
It regularly creates trouble for the Indian government with acts like the arresting of Indian fishermen and is a cause of instability to domestic politics and sabotaging of India's power projection capabilities in international relations.
They don't have nukes.
The U.N. resolutions against Sri Lanka's human rights violations etc. give us a justifiable cause to invade them.
We'll make them pay the war reparations.
We could build a canal on the northern tip to route over the present journey all around the island to reach the other side.
It will help demonstrate India's willingness to project power to achieve its interests.

 

[DingDong]

They allow the Chinese to build satellites for them and share its access together letting the Chinese survey Indian territories.
They allow the Chinese to build infrastrucures like airports in their territory which pose security threats for India.
They always leverage Indian support by threatening to go pro-China.
They are gradually slanting diplomatically towards China.
The Sri Lankan government is highly corrupt and has held back the country's development.
It has a severe human rights violation record against its citizens of Indian origin and still refuses to respect their rights.
It regularly creates trouble for the Indian government with acts like the arresting of Indian fishermen and is a cause of instability to domestic politics and sabotaging of India's power projection capabilities in international relations.
They don't have nukes.
The U.N. resolutions against Sri Lanka's human rights violations etc. give us a justifiable cause to invade them.
We'll make them pay the war reparations.
We could build a canal on the northern tip to route over the present journey all around the island to reach the other side.
It will help demonstrate India's willingness to project power to achieve its interests.

That will scare our "other" neighbours and will give them a reason to unite against India.

 

[Sylex21]

We tried that once, turns out the "Indian origin" people they are suppressing are even worse than their government and attacked the Indian army instead, killing some soldiers and tossing tires around their heads and setting them on fire, leading to a huge military conflict for a while with us.

-there is nothing wrong with them working economically with China, they have allowed China to build some things but that isn't a major threat yet. If China were to try and build a military or naval base that would be cause for something like you suggest, but it is unlikely to ever come to that.
-a lot of what you read about them "slanting" or allowing China to do is just business and over hyped. Every small nation is going to play as many great powers against each other as they can, trying to get benefits from all. Even India is looking to do this between China and the USA, so we can hardly blame Sri Lanka.
-we don't have any justifiable cause to invade them even with any UN resolutions, which are basically meaningless
-We'd lose a ton of good will and support around the world and do great damage to our image as "that responsible peaceful vegetarian Hindu secular democracy"
-Would hurt India's economy spending so much money crushing a never ending rebellion in Sri Lanka, cause other nations to become fearful of India and support Pakistan more etc...

In short, it's unrealistic and there's no benefit to India to do so.

 

[Ray]

Why should we?

 

[Srinivas_K]

No need to invade Srilanka, Srilankans know how to handle relations with China with out angering India.

 

[Srinivas_K]

Bla bla bla
why-do-we-not-invade-Bhutan

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why-do-we-not-invade-Nepal

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why-do-we-not-invade-BD

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why-do-we-not-invade-Maldieves

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why-do-we-not-invade-China

On topic
China also have very friendly neighbors like Vietnam,Taiwan,Skorea,Jpn,Philip etc.India can easily use/exploit them against China

Bla bla bla bla bla .....

Mighty China ??

 

[anupamsurey]

the days of Invasion and Colonisation are over, we live in era where such preposterous act cannot go unpunished, see what is happening to Russia (after ukraine- and even it is not a 100 pc invasion). the only thing we can do is identify our friends and foe. what china does or what Lanka does is not in our hands, it is their land and it is their right to decide what to do, but it doesn't mean that we should sit ideally and do next to nothing........

 

[anupamsurey]

Bla bla bla bla bla .....

Mighty China ??

we are also developing an satellite command station in Vietnam, but i thing it is more that what meets our eyes, this station can also be used to track -----y missiles and other aerospace activities.

 

[india twentyone]

-we don't have any justifiable cause to invade them even with any UN resolutions, which are basically meaningless
-We'd lose a ton of good will and support around the world and do great damage to our image as "that responsible peaceful vegetarian Hindu secular democracy"

I think we do have sufficient justification if we decided to play up the issue of the Tamil oppression on the international level and be loud about it.
I don't think the international community looks at us as "that responsible peaceful vegetarian Hindu secular democracy". It is evident from the international community's reaction to our nuclear program. In issues related to Indo-Pak conflicts the world looks at us with the same moral lense as it looks at Pakistan.
In fact my feel from the international strategic commentaries about India (esp. American viz. Indo-U.S. alliance) is on the lines of "despite it's economic and military clout India is wary of projecting power even in it's own region" in almost a negative sense as like "India can't be a good ally because it wont partner in our more aggressive campaigns"

 

[sorcerer]

Heard of Panchasheel on which the foundation of our country is made?
Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

India has something most other nations have when it comes to expansionism, its called integrity.
Invasion never works- We have seen it in Iraq, Afghan etc. Cuz, in the end we are dealing with people who are well connected with their culture, belief. Invasion is never an answer for events that surprises us.

WE should not invade another country, nor give an opportunity to invade our country.

Every country has their right to do what they want with their ports and geography. Just because it doesnt fit into our scheme of things doesnt mean that we should show high-handedness and invade. India should work on its softpower and back it up with credible mil justification.

Deals with China comes with strings attached which are always in their favor. Srilanka will learn it one day. India should not replace commonsense with adrenaline. The way it is right now, suits fine.
Look, Listen, Empower itself.

""India Conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border." - Hu Shih "

India should portray herself as the super power in softpower with a stick!!

 

[sgarg]

I want to give a clear answer to OP. India is a peaceful country with a defensive military policy. The Indian mindset is NOT ATTACKING OTHER countries.

We wish Sri Lanka well. India will help Sri Lanka develop in a peaceful and sustainable way.

Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with Chinese assistance to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is free to accept or reject such assistance from any country.

The only condition is Sri Lanka does not take actions detrimental to India's security interests. India will start to get worried if India's security interests are impacted.

Even if Sri Lanka takes anti-India actions, it is unlikely that India will rush to punish Sri Lanka. India will engage Sri Lanka through diplomatic and other channels and try to convince them.

Military is the LAST option in dealing with another State.

 

[Neeraj Mathur]

They allow the Chinese to build satellites for them and share its access together letting the Chinese survey Indian territories.
They allow the Chinese to build infrastrucures like airports in their territory which pose security threats for India.
They always leverage Indian support by threatening to go pro-China.
They are gradually slanting diplomatically towards China.
The Sri Lankan government is highly corrupt and has held back the country's development.
It has a severe human rights violation record against its citizens of Indian origin and still refuses to respect their rights.
It regularly creates trouble for the Indian government with acts like the arresting of Indian fishermen and is a cause of instability to domestic politics and sabotaging of India's power projection capabilities in international relations.
They don't have nukes.
The U.N. resolutions against Sri Lanka's human rights violations etc. give us a justifiable cause to invade them.
We'll make them pay the war reparations.
We could build a canal on the northern tip to route over the present journey all around the island to reach the other side.
It will help demonstrate India's willingness to project power to achieve its interests.

hey man
what are u smoking?

 

[DingDong]

I want to give a clear answer to OP. India is a peaceful country with a defensive military policy. The Indian mindset is NOT ATTACKING OTHER countries.

We wish Sri Lanka well. India will help Sri Lanka develop in a peaceful and sustainable way.

Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with Chinese assistance to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is free to accept or reject such assistance from any country.

The only condition is Sri Lanka does not take actions detrimental to India's security interests. India will start to get worried if India's security interests are impacted.

Even if Sri Lanka takes anti-India actions, it is unlikely that India will rush to punish Sri Lanka. India will engage Sri Lanka through diplomatic and other channels and try to convince them.

Military is the LAST option in dealing with another State.

Since 50s Sri Lanka has grabbed every opportunity to harm India's National interest. Sri Lanka supported Pakistan against India during 65 and 71 wars. Sri Lanka tried to gift a Naval Base to the US in Northern part of the Island, which forced India to give them 30 years of Civil War. One of the 26/11 conspirators was nabbed by our Intel from Colombo, exposing the nexus between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

I agree that Military is the last option, but the other nations must be convinced that the "Military Option" is very much on the table. We won't hesitate to use it when the need arises.

 

[sgarg]

@DingDong, we need to be patient. There are many problems. Each problem has to be prioritized and attacked in sequence.

We have to take care of the biggest problem first. Sri Lanka is NOT YET in the front of the queue.

 

[india twentyone]

@DingDong, we need to be patient. There are many problems. Each problem has to be prioritized and attacked in sequence.

We have to take care of the biggest problem first. Sri Lanka is NOT YET in the front of the queue.

Yeah, that's more like it.
But there's a thin line between being prudent or righteous and being inherently wary of using force at the expense of not defending our national interests.

 

[india twentyone]

India is a peaceful country with a defensive military policy. The Indian mindset is NOT ATTACKING OTHER countries.

Isn't this a forum for discussing national defense policies, not the philosophies and mindsets of peoples?

 

[sgarg]

Isn't this a forum for discussing national defense policies, not the philosophies and mindsets of peoples?

We should discuss what is realistic. A discussion on this forum does not become country's policy. Sri Lanka is doing what it is doing for a long time. Yet there has been no Indian invasion. That is what I said. Just the fact that Sri Lanka engages in anti-India activity is not a cause of an invasion. The military option is used only in extreme circumstances.

 

[Dovah]

Brb invading Lanka.......

 

[Otm Shank2]

A country of 1.2 billion people should not need to use force to allign a tiny neighbour of 23+ million people who are so close culturally and religiously in identity. A better question is what failed in making lanka a bhutan or nepal or even sikkim?

 

[india twentyone]

A country of 1.2 billion people should not need to use force to allign a tiny neighbour of 23+ million people who are so close culturally and religiously in identity. A better question is what failed in making lanka a bhutan or nepal or even sikkim?

Yeah. The difference being we didn't covertly bring about a regime change in our favour in Sri Lanka like we did in Bhutan or Sikkim by intelligence operations of R&AW and sometimes together with the CIA.