Premadasa threatened war with India, says former envoy

[KS]

Premadasa threatened war with India, says former envoy | idrw.org

Then Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa threatened to go to war with India in 1989 if Indian troops were not pulled back, the then Indian high commissioner in Colombo has revealed.

Lakhan Lal Mehrotra has told Indian Foreign Affairs Journal that Premadasa held out the sensational threat when he called on the president at his Colombo office.

The president told Mehrotra that if India did not agree to withdraw its military, he would announce on state-run television that Sri Lankan forces had taken charge of the country's north and east.

"And then if the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) resented, there would be hostility and war," Mehrotra quoted him as saying.

Mehrotra reportedly replied: "Excellency, I have come here to discuss peace with you, but if you want war you will have it."

He added in the journal's Oral History column: "These words, delivered in a very serious manner, brought him down. I was observing him keenly; he was not expecting that kind of reply.

"He was virtually shaking and could not speak for a minute or two."

Other Sri Lankan leaders, including the late Ranjan Wijeratne, who was the foreign affairs minister, suggested to Mehrotra that he should calm down.

Mehrotra said he told Wijeratne that he always stood for peace but the president seemed to only think in terms of war. "In that case we should part company and face the consequences."

Mehrotra says that at one point earlier, Premadasa also threatened to abrogate the 1987 India-Sri Lanka Agreement under which the Indian Army was deployed in the island's northeast to end Tamil separatism.

Premadasa reportedly said that he did not care if there was a rupture in diplomatic relations between India and Sri Lanka.

He also said he would declare Indian troops in his country an occupation force and it would hurt New Delhi's reputation.

Mehrotra says he told the president: "We will take care of our reputation."

The president then angrily retorted: "It will cost me my political future and your next visit will be for my funeral!"

Mehrotra says: "These were the exact words he used."

In a tumultuous time for India-Sri Lanka ties, India deployed its troops in Sri Lanka's northeast under a 1987 bilateral pact. The agreement was signed by then president J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of India.

But Premadasa, who was then Sri Lanka's prime minister, never accepted the 1987 agreement. When he became president in late 1988, he pledged to send the Indian troops home.

In June 1989, after entering into talks with the Tamil Tigers, he publicly demanded that India take back its troops by July 1989, causing a diplomatic furore.

After intense backroom discussions in which Mehrotra played a major role, India eventually pulled back all its troops by the end of March 1990.

Mehrotra, however, says that once Premadasa realized that India would be taking back its military, he hugged Mehrotra and praised his diplomatic skills. Mehrotra also quoted the late Jayewardene as telling him that while he did not trust the Tamil Tigers, Premadasa "will learn his own lessons".

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) eventually assassinated not just Rajiv Gandhi but also Premadasa and Wijeratne. The Sri Lankan military crushed the LTTE in May 2009.

This threatening might look like a silly outburst of an emotionally wrecked punk, but viewed as apart of the big picture in context of Indo-Pak and Indo-Chinese relations, Lanka will eventually turn out to be a thorn in India's foot in the long run. The Sinhala mentality has not at all changed.

 

[Iamanidiot]

KS a suggestion let the Gults deal with the Lankans for sometime

 

[Dash]

Meherotra did a good job.

 

[Dash]

Premadasa threatened war with India, says former envoy | idrw.org



This threatening might look like a silly outburst of an emotionally wrecked punk, but viewed as apart of the big picture in context of Indo-Pak and Indo-Chinese relations, Lanka will eventually turn out to be a thorn in India's foot in the long run. The Sinhala mentality has not at all changed.

Just the way our policies didnt change.

 

[Tolaha]

Agree with Iamanidiot as in, we need folks who can work with the Lankans dispassionately! There is too many emotions involved when Tamilians are involved in this particular subject!

 

[KS]

Agree with Iamanidiot as in, we need folks who can work with the Lankans dispassionately! There is too many emotions involved when Tamilians are involved in this particular subject!

You did not get the context of Iamanidiot's post..or that is atleast what I think

 

[Tolaha]

KS a suggestion let the Gults deal with the Lankans for sometime

You did not get the context of Iamanidiot's post..or that is atleast what I think

IamanIdiot/KS,

What was being implied!?

 

[parijataka]

KS a suggestion let the Gults deal with the Lankans for sometime

Elaborate please, your one liners are too cryptic.

On topic, Mehrotra did good job. And Sri Lanka threatening war is laughable, being smaller than even TN.

 

[KS]

Elaborate please, your one liners are too cryptic.

On topic, Mehrotra did good job. And Sri Lanka threatening war is laughable, being smaller than even TN.

IamanIdiot/KS,

What was being implied!?

I think he meant more 'physical' action is needed on the sinhalas.... though..

 

[Tronic]

This threatening might look like a silly outburst of an emotionally wrecked punk, but viewed as apart of the big picture in context of Indo-Pak and Indo-Chinese relations, Lanka will eventually turn out to be a thorn in India's foot in the long run. The Sinhala mentality has not at all changed.

Problem is, you have already declared Sri Lanka an enemy, and refuse to allow them to ally with India because of Tamil-Sinhala racial issues. Lately, it has not been Sri Lanka acting hostile to India, but Indian Tamils acting hostile to Sri Lanka. The moment we think about sending Sri Lanka weapons, giving them training, or opening up more bilateral relations with them, you have Tamils going up in arms. So what choice do the Sri Lankans really have?

As for Sinhala mentality, I'm not sure who hates us more. I had a bad experience with a Sri Lankan Tamil during one India-Pak match, where he couldn't stop insulting India and kept rallying up the Pakistanis against Indians. He said he spits at the country and told me how "my people" (I think he was referring to Indian army Punjabis/Sikhs/Sardars) blew up his uncles house and killed his brothers.

So really, it's all pretty BS. Sri Lankan Sinhalese hate us because they think all Indians are Tamils, or heavily influenced by Tamils, and Sri Lankan Tamils hate us because they think most Indians are Northies, and hate us recalling the IPKF.

I think India needs to reach out to Sri Lanka and train more officers of the SLA in India to cultivate good contacts in SL services for the future. It is simply retarted to find out that SL air force personnel were being trained in Tamil Nadu. Hell, the political morons should send them up to North India. All Sri Lankans are most welcomed here!

 

[aerokan]

The question here is why premadasa is so anti-india to the extent that he went and made a deal with LTTE to get IPKF out of the country which their own govt brought in? what is it that makes Lanka wary of india even today despite India being too lax on their country??

 

[Ray]

Premadasa must have been daft to even think of such a silly thing.

It would have made Ceylon an extension of Indian benevolence.

India would have donated Ceylon to Maldives to govern!

 

[sob]

Premdassa must have been high on weeds or something.

Ungrateful duffer. It was the presence of IPKF in North Sri Lanka, that freed the SL Army to tackle the JVP goons in the South. Had it not been for IPKF, SL would have been split into two countries a long time back.

 

[KS]

Problem is, you have already declared Sri Lanka an enemy, and refuse to allow them to ally with India because of Tamil-Sinhala racial issues. Lately, it has not been Sri Lanka acting hostile to India, but Indian Tamils acting hostile to Sri Lanka. The moment we think about sending Sri Lanka weapons, giving them training, or opening up more bilateral relations with them, you have Tamils going up in arms. So what choice do the Sri Lankans really have?

@bolded part -- How cute...Will it be the same if I said the North Indians dont allow us to become allies with Pakistan because of their past history with them ?

BTW Send them all the goodies you want. The only demand is also make them accountable for the crimes they committed. Just blind showering of gifts is what we oppose given that the tax money of people from our state is also involved in that. And if you want to develop the relations with them inspite of our concerns go ahead. Just more people here would lose faith in the idea of India.

And the problem is not we made them enemy. They were already the enemy which gave Pakistan logistic supplies in 71. Much before anything else happened.

So really, it's all pretty BS. Sri Lankan Sinhalese hate us because they think all Indians are Tamils, or heavily influenced by Tamils, and Sri Lankan Tamils hate us because they think most Indians are Northies, and hate us recalling the IPKF.

Oh please..the Sinhalese are pretty much educated to understand Indira was not a Tamil nor the IPKF Tamil. If you think ony the Lankan Tamils harbor a grudge against the IPKF, think again. The Sinhalese never took India as their ally nor will they ever take. They are milking you an you guys dont even realize that. I'll be blunt..many of the people up North who support the Lankans dont even know the ABCD of the SInhala-Tamil issue...but they support the SInhalas as a means to one-up over the allegedly hindi-hating Tamils. But they just dont understand that the SInhalas dont love them either. This is my personal experience.

 

[aerokan]

Problem is, you have already declared Sri Lanka an enemy, and refuse to allow them to ally with India because of Tamil-Sinhala racial issues. Lately, it has not been Sri Lanka acting hostile to India, but Indian Tamils acting hostile to Sri Lanka. The moment we think about sending Sri Lanka weapons, giving them training, or opening up more bilateral relations with them, you have Tamils going up in arms. So what choice do the Sri Lankans really have?

As for Sinhala mentality, I'm not sure who hates us more. I had a bad experience with a Sri Lankan Tamil during one India-Pak match, where he couldn't stop insulting India and kept rallying up the Pakistanis against Indians. He said he spits at the country and told me how "my people" (I think he was referring to Indian army Punjabis/Sikhs/Sardars) blew up his uncles house and killed his brothers.

So really, it's all pretty BS. Sri Lankan Sinhalese hate us because they think all Indians are Tamils, or heavily influenced by Tamils, and Sri Lankan Tamils hate us because they think most Indians are Northies, and hate us recalling the IPKF.

I think India needs to reach out to Sri Lanka and train more officers of the SLA in India to cultivate good contacts in SL services for the future. It is simply retarted to find out that SL air force personnel were being trained in Tamil Nadu. Hell, the political morons should send them up to North India. All Sri Lankans are most welcomed here!

Sri Lanka not acting hostile to India?? Are you frikking kidding me!! If one fisherman get killed by Pak or some other country.. India issues a strong demarche and takes similar actions or atleast summon the ambassodors. But when Sri Lanka routinely arrests and kills Indian fishermen, we just let them go without even talking to them abt it. Sri Lankans always had a choice like not helping Pak against us or not being in bed with China or not to kill Indian fishermen and so on. They have plenty of choices.. like giving their own country men equal rights!!! But they always used it in the worst way possible. That itself speaks volumes about them.

 

[blank_quest]

Whats the issue with Sri Lanka and Tamils. Till today am unable to understand. please tell me in brief. anyone?

 

[Tronic]

@bolded part -- How cute...Will it be the same if I said the North Indians dont allow us to become allies with Pakistan because of their past history with them ?

Not really, since we are often blamed for being "too friendly" and having a "Punjabiyat bonhomie" with the Pakjabis in the first place, and secondly, unlike the Pakistanis, when was the last time Sri Lanka militarily staked a claim on one of India's states and then sent armed insurgents to wage war in that state?

BTW Send them all the goodies you want. The only demand is also make them accountable for the crimes they committed. Just blind showering of gifts is what we oppose given that the tax money of people from our state is also involved in that.

Whose talking about showering them with "gifts"? There is no such thing as a free lunch; we get something in return, read political leverage. As for accountable for their crimes, there are far too many regimes still to be held accountable and for India to play the role of moral police in a third country's internal affairs would be a geopolitically counter-productive strategy and will be replicating the same method how we lost Burma to the Chinese.

And the problem is not we made them enemy. They were already the enemy which gave Pakistan logistic supplies in 71. Much before anything else happened.

And we had our own military units stationed inside Sri Lanka at the exact same time! Sri Lanka was and is simply playing good geopolitics; playing one regional power against another to gain benefits from both. And that was also a different era; the Lankans were cozying up to the Americans during the Cold War. It's one of the reasons we trained the LTTE to get back at the Lankans, isn't it? Time to move on.

Oh please..the Sinhalese are pretty much educated to understand Indira was not a Tamil nor the IPKF Tamil. If you think ony the Lankan Tamils harbor a grudge against the IPKF, think again. The Sinhalese never took India as their ally nor will they ever take. I'll be blunt..most of the people up North dont even know the ABCD of the SInhala-Tamil issue...but they support the SInhalas as a means to one-up over the allegedly hindi-hating Tamils. But they just dont understand that the SInhalas dont love them either. This is my personal experience.

Look, I totally support you in your anti-Hindi agitation, and I choose not to speak Hindi myself, preferring to speak my mother-tongue, Punjabi, instead. I don't support the Sinhalese or Tamils, all I support is building a relationship with Sri Lanka.

Secondly, I never claimed that the Sinhalese love us, but they do not hold the same level of burning hatred I have felt first hand from SL Tamils.

 

[Ray]

Whats the issue with Sri Lanka and Tamils. Till today am unable to understand. please tell me in brief. anyone?

The issue is ethnicity and the cruel suppression of the Ceylonese Tamils by the Buddhist Ceylonese majority in the the Ceylonese Tamil majority areas!

That has got some Indian Tamil furious.

You should have heard Vaiko on TV yesterday enumerating the atrocities on the Ceylonese Tamils.

 

[KS]

This talk is useless and its pretty much rehashing what has already been said by me a 100 times before. It is not something that we could teach anybody...the realization should come from within as anything we say would only be dismissed because we are saying it. India would realize the intentions of the Sinhalese definitely one day...Lets just hope its not too late then.

Secondly, I never claimed that the Sinhalese love us, but they do not hold the same level of burning hatred I have felt first hand from SL Tamils.

Ofcourse..why would they not ? The peacekeeping force wasn't entirely peacekeeping and acted more like an extension of the Lankan army. I refuse to say anything more than this.

 

[Galaxy]

Sri Lanka, China sign 16 new agreements

Sept 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka and China have signed 16 new agreements focusing mostly on infrastructure development following discussions between the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the visiting Chinese leader Wu Bangguo yesterday.

Wu Bangguo, China's top legislator and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), is the highest Chinese official to visit Colombo after the end of the war. He arrived in the island on Saturday for a four-day official visit.

China and Sri Lanka should deepen their strategic coordination and strengthen bilateral exchanges between governments, legislatures and local authorities, so as to enhance mutual understanding and trust, Wu has said, according to Chinese official news agency Xinhua.

The Chinese leader has said that his government is willing to expand imports from Sri Lanka to promote trade balance and facilitate bilateral cooperation.

He has suggested that the two countries should strengthen investment cooperation in areas like infrastructure and tourism.

The two countries signed agreements on a wide range of cooperation that covers infrastructure development in transport, tourism, telecommunications, and port development, official government media said in a release.

Agreements for funding several projects including Colombo Lotus Tower Project, Mobile Network Expansion Project and Hambantota Port Development Phase II Project and energy were also signed following the meeting yesterday.

Three Memoranda of Understanding on Coastal and Marine Cooperation and Finance cooperation have also been signed.

A mutual agreement has been signed to exempt holders of diplomatic, service or official passports and passports for public affairs between Sri Lanka and China from visa requirements.

Agreement on economic and technical cooperation between the two countries was also signed.

Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka, China sign 16 new agreements