Palm Court

First round of peace talks was held in Asia

BY ANANTH Palakidnar

THE first ever joint Naval exercise named 'SLINEX' by the Indian and the Sri Lankan Navies was staged with the participation of the Indian Navy's Chief of the Eastern Command Vice Admiral Suresh Mehtha, last week.

Indian Navy vessels 'INS Sukanya' and 'INS Kirpan' along with the support of their air wing were manoeuvring several tactics in dealing with the challenges which are common to the Indian and the Lankan Navies in their territorial waters.

The Indian Naval helicopters which were hovering above the coastal areas of Colombo during the exercise 'SLINEX', reminded the 'Operation Garland' which was carried out by the Indian Air Force jets in the northern skies, eighteen years ago in 1987 to parachute food and medical items to the Jaffna civilians when the 'Operation Liberation' the first ever military onslaught launched by the Sri Lankan armed forces was in progress to take control of the Peninsula from the grip of the LTTE.

It is almost two decades since the 'Operation Liberation' was launched in the North, the efforts carried out so far both militarily as well as politically had done nothing in creating a durable peace in the war-torn North and East.

Whenever there was a change of leadership in the country there were much expectation from the North and East and the country at large on reaching a political settlement to the North-East dilemma.

Since the escalation of the ethnic turmoil in 1983, it was a 'Himalayan task' for the executive Presidents in the past in handling the North- East situation and one of them had even paid a heavy price for his attempts in dealing with the issue.

However with the Ceasefire Agreement which came into effect in February 2002,the big guns have been silenced to a greater extent in the North and East and political activities in Colombo as well as in Killinochchi have been taking place for the past three years in spearheading a healthy peace process.

The recent change of leadership in Colombo is significant in many ways as, President Mahinda Rajapakse has started creating a conducive climate for the resumption of peace process without leaving room for postponements.

He has already met some of the key political parties including the main Opposition United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and had explained his stance on the peace process.

He has also met the Norwegian envoy Hans Brattskar and urged the Norwegian Government to continue with its facilitation process.

The response of the Opposition and the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe towards President Rajapakse's approach with regard to the peace process was remarkable.

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe even during his Presidential poll campaign was very particular in adopting a bi-partisan approach in handling with the peace process.

Ranil Wickremesinghe during his campaign for the Presidency said that if he came into power he would join hands with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and make a joint approach in resuming the peace process.

It was important to note that it was during his brief period as Prime Minister of the United National Front Government Ranil Wickremesinghe went to the extent of signing the Ceasefire Agreement with the LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran and launched the peace process with the backing of the international community.

Despite the skirmishes in the North and East, the 2002 CFA signed between the Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the LTTE leader Veluppilai Prabhakaran put a halt to the two decades of war which went on destroying the resources of the country.

The current situation in the North and East could be very well compared to a 'Sleeping Volcano' as the killings and various types of CFA violations are still continuing in the region.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission very often came under attack not only in the South even in the North and East in dealing with the situation.

However, the SLMM chief Hagrup Haukland even said that they were helpless in controlling the situation and a little they could do in maintaining normalcy in the region.

The two major claymore attacks in the North recently which led to the deaths of fourteen soldiers, highlighted the volatile situation which prevail in the war-torn North and East.

The Government and the LTTE focusing more on stabilising the Ceasefire Agreement, with kicking off the talks first on the stability of the ceasefire become inevitable.

As the avenue to reach an overall settlement to the peace process remain with several obstacles, finding a venue to sit and work out the modalities to resume the talks also remain a difficult task.

The LTTE's political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan opposing on selecting a venue in an Asian country, it is important to remember that the first round of talks between the Ranil's UNF Government and the LTTE had taken place in Thailand, which is very much an Asian country.

The head of the UNF Government delegation Professor G.L.Peiris and the Chief Negotiator of the LTTE Dr. Anton Balasingam even planted a sapling at the venue of the first round of talks in Thailand to mark the beginning of the peace process.

As far as the Sri Lankan peace process is concerned the International community expects that the measures should be expedited to find a durable solution to the ethnic crisis.

So it could be Asia, Europe, America, Africa or even be the Latin America, the peace makers have to be more flexible on the issues they come across. And what the country needs most is peace and nothing else.