Time for decisive action - The Hindu

Some form of naval coordination or cooperation with Sri Lanka along the international maritime boundary to neutralise the security threat posed to India by the Sea Tigers has become unavoidable, The Hindu said in its editorial yesterday.

"It will be a pro-active way of countering the menace of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been using the Palk Strait, Indian waters, and the Tamil Nadu coast to carry on two-way terrorist traffic, including the smuggling of goods and the sourcing of raw materials for fabricating arms and explosive devices," The Hindu editorialist wrote.

The editorial: "It is as significant as it is a surprise that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has come up with the suggestion that the Indian Navy should take up joint inspection with its Sri Lankan counterpart of the waters straddling the international maritime boundary line. As he subsequently clarified, his limited objective is to put an end to the killing of fishermen from Tamil Nadu, allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Having made the suggestion, Mr. Karunanidhi would now seem to have some reservations "empirically speaking, it is felt that since it is going to be joint patrolling there will be more disadvantages than the advantages we perceive."

Joint patrolling is an idea Colombo has been consistently trying to sell to New Delhi. During his November 2006 visit to India, President Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated the proposal, arguing that joint patrolling would "help check arms smuggling and drug trafficking" by the LTTE and it was "time we realised the Sea Tigers' threat."

Chief Minister Karunanidhi may not view joint patrolling from that perspective. However, following the recent killing of two fishermen from Tamil Nadu, he raised the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and went on to suggest, constructively, that joint inspection by the two navies was the way to ensure that the Sri Lankan Navy did not fire on Indian fishermen.

For understandable reasons, New Delhi has not responded positively to Colombo's joint patrolling proposal, which it regards in the light of history as a potential trap. First, India decidedly does not want to get militarily embroiled once again in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.

Secondly, the Indian Navy may be disinclined to accept the burden of permanent patrolling, which will involve a deployment of at least 10 ships. Thirdly, it could lead to a new military relationship with the Sri Lankan Navy, and the distinct possibility of using each other's naval bases.

Political India is virtually unanimous in ruling out any entanglement with Sri Lanka's messy internal affairs. But neither does it want to allow the LTTE freedom of the seas, including freedom of the Indian waters and the Tamil Nadu coast, for its terrorist operations.

The presence of the Indian Navy will serve the purpose of protecting Tamil Nadu fishermen, who will however be prevented from straying into enticing Sri Lankan waters where the catch is reputed to be much better.

The ball is in New Delhi's court. It does appear that some form of naval coordination or cooperation with Sri Lanka along the international maritime boundary to neutralise the security threat posed to India by the Sea Tigers has become unavoidable."