Speculation rife following secretive visit by Indian Officials

An unscheduled visit by a high-powered delegation from the Indian defence and foreign affairs ministries to Colombo last week created a stir in political and media circles in Sri Lanka with local media speculating on the purpose of the secretive visit.

The delegation headed by National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan  and comprising Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh arrived in Colombo on a special flight from New Delhi on Friday, June 20.

During their two-day visit, the Indian officials held separate discussions with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Commanders of Sri Lankan military, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan and Minister of Social Services and leader of the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Douglas Devananda.

None of the visiting Indian officials met the press and a brief statement was read out to the Indian journalists.

"India hopes that Sri Lanka can find peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict within the framework of united Sri Lanka, acceptable to all the communities. There are no military solutions," the statement read.

The conflicting reasons given by Sri Lankan and Indian officials as to the purpose of the visit only did not help.

“Their visit is in connection with the forthcoming SAARC summit.” an Indian diplomat told IANS referring to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit scheduled to open August 1 in Colombo.

A top official of the Presidential Secretariat played down the importance of the visit, labeling it a ‘regular one’ and said: “It is part of the regular exchange of contacts at the highest official level between the two countries. The latest Indian official visit can be termed as a return visit to a similar mission from Colombo to New Delhi in September last year.”

A three-member delegation from Sri Lanka comprising Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Gothabhaya Rajapaksa and Senior Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa visited India in September last year.

However, retired Sri Lankan diplomat K. Nanda Godage said the 'very composition of the Indian delegation itself shows the visit is something special and not just a routine one'.

“I don't think it is just a return visit or courtesy visit. It certainly cannot be anything to do merely with the security arrangement for the SAARC summit either,” he said.

“We hope this is a visit to convey a positive message from India that it is fully behind Sri Lanka in its effort to solve the ethnic conflict,” said Godage.

Sri Lanka's opposition parties demanded the government disclose the reasons behind the 'sudden visit'.

The sudden and secretive nature of the visit raised questions within political circles also with opposition parties demanding details of the visit.

John Amaratunga, a parliamentarian from the opposition United National Party (UNP), claimed there was a 'crucial aspect' to the two-day previously unannounced visit, pointing out that it had came at a time when the country was 'at crossroads in economic and war fronts', the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

“Today, India is concerned about what is happening in Sri Lanka. The ongoing military campaign will have serious implications (for) Tamil Nadu (and) the Indian government. So we are eager to know the true position of the visit,” the paper quoted Amaratunga as saying.

Meanwhile, the radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) claimed that the visit by the Indian delegation was 'similar to what happened during the Vadamaradchchi operation in 1987' and demanded the government divulge the details of all discussions held.

JVP's parliamentary group leader Anurakumara Dissanayake said India intervened to halt the Vadamaradchchi military operation against the LTTE in 1987 and later forced a peace accord on the Sri Lankan government.

“It is the responsibility of the government to disclose the details of the visit as conflicting reports have appeared in the media,” said Dissanayake.

The JVP also regretted the continued Indian attitude of conducting important talks at the level of civil servants and intelligence officers, who are not answerable to the people of India, and for the meek submission of Sri Lankan politicians to such diplomacy.