Shivshankar Menon on India-Sri Lanka, Indo China and Indo Pak relations

[Gibbs]

Interesting insight to Indian diplomacy.. First time i think a senior Indian career diplomat openly acknowledged Indian role in creating the LTTE.. Watch 6.52..

@Nilgiri @Saradiel @Godman @nair @surya kiran @ChennaiDude @Shotgunner51 @AndrewJin @waz and other Pakistani posters

 

[HeinzG]

He also states about how US was trying to rescue Prabha in the final days of the conflict.

 

[Godman]

Well there is nothing to hide pretty much everyone knows it

 

[Nilgiri]

First time i think a senior Indian career diplomat openly acknowledged Indian role in creating the LTTE.. Watch 6.52..

I see the host mentioning it as a question that combines Baluchistan very quickly which is then what Menon specifically responds to.

V: You focus on the end game, of course, of the Sri Lankan civil war. But there were choices that India made at the beginning of the game too – in arming and financing the LTTE. Is there a danger that other regional problems – Pakistan, Balochistan in particular, an issue that we have now begun to raise and articulate publicly – might get over-on played? Pakistanis have made allegations against India in the past…

Menon: You know it’s very difficult to comment something that frankly, we don’t know what’s going on, what is actually being done. All we had was a statement by the PM about human rights in Balochistan, which I think is legitimate. I think there is a real problem of human rights in Balochistan.

I don't see that as an acknowledgement really by Menon (but rather the host) or is there another timestamp you are talking about? Anyways it is out in the open in many other more detailed articles and sources...it doesnt need a former NSA to rubber stamp it.

 

[kvpak]

I know Indian army trained Tamil; militant groups in India and occupied territories. It is not a surprise to any Tamil.

All other militant groups obeyed Indian orders on what to do. Instead LTTE did what is good for Tamil people. So India tried to destroy LTTE starting from 1987.

 

[Gregor Clegane]

Very long videos.

 

[samv]

India is a cancer to South Asia.

 

[wiseone2]

Interesting insight to Indian diplomacy.. First time i think a senior Indian career diplomat openly acknowledged Indian role in creating the LTTE.. Watch 6.52..

@Nilgiri @Saradiel @Godman @nair @surya kiran @ChennaiDude @Shotgunner51 @AndrewJin @waz and other Pakistani posters

support for LTTE was an open secret in 1983
India backed away from the LTTE since 1987

 

[Sliver]

@Gibbs SL allowed Pakistan to refuel its war planes during the 1971 war. while India does have its hands dirty with LTTE, SL played its role in siding with one warring side of the 71 war. South Asian politics is pretty complex as I have learned through the years in the forum here.

 

[wiseone2]

@Gibbs SL allowed Pakistan to refuel its war planes during the 1971 war. while India does have its hands dirty with LTTE, SL played its role in siding with one warring side of the 71 war. South Asian politics is pretty complex as I have learned through the years in the forum here.

why did Sri Lanka allow Pakistan to refuel during the 1971 war ? It seems like a bet on a losing horse

 

[Sliver]

why did Sri Lanka allow Pakistan to refuel during the 1971 war ? It seems like a bet on a losing horse

they wouldnt know who will eventually win..
mind you.. Pak in the 70s was much more advanced economically than India

also, it could have been persuaded by pak as a "humanitarian" act.

as i said.. its a lot of gray and not straight forward.

 

[Gibbs]

they wouldnt know who will eventually win..
mind you.. Pak in the 70s was much more advanced economically than India

also, it could have been persuaded by pak as a "humanitarian" act.

as i said.. its a lot of gray and not straight forward.

Pakistan war was against their own Bengali citizens of that time, India just happened to be a instigator and backed the East Pakistani side for their own hegemonic/Geo strategic reasons, The 71' war never threatened any part of Indian territory nor did they intervene in the sovereignty of India.. So it was not a war between India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka had no qualms about supporting their strong allies as long as they didnt go to war against another sovereign neighbor

The creation of Tamil terror groups by the Indira Ghandi regime and RAW was a consequence of it's hegemonic Indira doctrine practiced at that time along with the geo politics of the cold war (Sri Lanka at that time was US ally).. It has little to do with the allowance of Pakistani fighter jets to refuel on the island as a friendly gesture to a friendly country fighting an internal war

This is just a lame excuse given by Indians for their abhorrent role in creating terror groups against a legitimate govt of a sovereign nation, And wreck havoc there for 30 years

So yes you're right, It was not a simple black and white incident as far as Indian are concerned but for Lankans it's pretty clear

 

[Gibbs]

I see the host mentioning it as a question that combines Baluchistan very quickly which is then what Menon specifically responds to.

V: You focus on the end game, of course, of the Sri Lankan civil war. But there were choices that India made at the beginning of the game too – in arming and financing the LTTE. Is there a danger that other regional problems – Pakistan, Balochistan in particular, an issue that we have now begun to raise and articulate publicly – might get over-on played? Pakistanis have made allegations against India in the past…

Menon: You know it’s very difficult to comment something that frankly, we don’t know what’s going on, what is actually being done. All we had was a statement by the PM about human rights in Balochistan, which I think is legitimate. I think there is a real problem of human rights in Balochistan.

I don't see that as an acknowledgement really by Menon (but rather the host) or is there another timestamp you are talking about? Anyways it is out in the open in many other more detailed articles and sources...it doesnt need a former NSA to rubber stamp it.

Not denting it is simply an acknowledgement brah

 

[Nilgiri]

Not denting it is simply an acknowledgement brah

Thing is I've seen this been used by the media everywhere. They tag on a 2nd part to the whole thing and that becomes the focus of the question/answer....and we are supposed to imply that the guest agrees with the assertion in the 1st part. I remember Malaysia's Mahathir getting quite enraged with this tactic from the BBC/CNN (cant remember which) and called them out on it immediately.

I would rather have had a direct simple question and time for the guest to answer it directly.

That said it is no secret that India formed a big role in the formation and funding of the LTTE...but at its core it was the inevitable filling of a chasm created by the Sri Lankan state by continually indulging in quite the venomous anti-Tamil policy (far beyond in both depth and time, the emotional response of it from various policies left by the British).

Polarisation gives attractive sustained short term political power, but Sri Lanka found out the hard way that is has much long term pain and suffering that comes along with it. It is again a case of the elites treating the lives of common folk as expendable so that whatever lineage in their mind is preserved and their self-declared edifices secure. This is a recurring theme in South Asia and the world as a whole to varying degrees....SL is just well below the size threshold where the intensity can be absorbed and shrugged off somewhat....so it definitely was relatively much longer and raw and all-encompassing for the country than most other parallels in the world.

 

[Gibbs]

Thing is I've seen this been used by the media everywhere. They tag on a 2nd part to the whole thing and that becomes the focus of the question/answer....and we are supposed to imply that the guest agrees with the assertion in the 1st part. I remember Malaysia's Mahathir getting quite enraged with this tactic from the BBC/CNN (cant remember which) and called them out on it immediately.

I would rather have had a direct simple question and time for the guest to answer it directly.

That said it is no secret that India formed a big role in the formation and funding of the LTTE...but at its core it was the inevitable filling of a chasm created by the Sri Lankan state by continually indulging in quite the venomous anti-Tamil policy (far beyond in both depth and time, the emotional response of it from various policies left by the British).

Polarisation gives attractive sustained short term political power, but Sri Lanka found out the hard way that is has much long term pain and suffering that comes along with it. It is again a case of the elites treating the lives of common folk as expendable so that whatever lineage in their mind is preserved and their self-declared edifices secure. This is a recurring theme in South Asia and the world as a whole to varying degrees....SL is just well below the size threshold where the intensity can be absorbed and shrugged off somewhat....so it definitely was relatively much longer and raw and all-encompassing for the country than most other parallels in the world.

I agree completely with your point of view, But it was also a two way street in post independence Sri Lankan politics that led to what it did.. Both the Sinhala and Tamil ruling class were equally responsible for it.. Specifically the Jaffna Vellaya English speaking ruling class

Sinhalese elite wanted to regain the power, Tamil elites didnt want to loose the power they had under the British

They wanted that apartheid system to remain for thier own benefit not for the Tamil people in general

Add to that the political base in Tamil Nadu saw the opening for thier own agenda.. The result collateral damage of the general population especially a whole generation of Sri Lankan Tamils