Talking high expectations

Stalled talks between the Government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have returned to the limelight again, with reports that the Government is to resume bilateral talks with the TNA simultaneously, whilst the latter will agree to participate in the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) in terms of a deal being brokered by India.

According to reports over the weekend, the broad outlines were discussed when President Mahinda Rajapaksa held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently. The meeting, which was the first between the two parties after India voted in favour of the US-led resolution on Sri Lanka in March, was viewed as being largely convivial despite the tense remarks made by Rajapaksa ahead of the meeting.   

A five-member TNA delegation headed by its leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan left on Saturday for New Delhi at the Indian Government’s invitation to be briefed on the outcome of the Rajapaksa-Singh talks. In essence, India is to stand guarantee to ensure the bilateral talks and TNA’s participation in the PSC. The twin track dialogue is to evolve a political package to address Tamil issues and is a major step in the UPFA Government’s reconciliation programme.

The TNA delegation’s main talks will be with V. Narayanaswamy, Minister of State in the Indian PM’s Office, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon. They will also call on Prime Minister Singh. TNA Leader Sampanthan had told reporters that the present stalemate is because the Government has not kept to its promise. He had insisted that the TNA agreed for talks in January this year, but nothing materialised.  Other members of the TNA delegation are Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Selvan Adaikalanathan and M.A. Sumanthiran – all Parliamentarians.

The Rajapaksa-Singh talks took place when the President visited New Delhi en route to Bhopal last month. Rajapaksa laid the foundation stone of the Sanchi University of Buddhist and Indic Studies. The Indian Government ordered special security precautions during President Rajapaksa’s visit to Bhopal. Indian Air Force aircraft hovered over the skies of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh whilst trains were banned from stopping between Bhopal and Videsha including Sanchi.

This gives an indication of the tension that awaits the Sri Lankan Government if it does not find a way to take the talks with TNA forward meaningfully. Increased tension in countries with large Tamil diaspora presence is nothing new to the Government, yet there can be a tipping point if no progress is made at home. Indeed the Government cannot stall the international community including India indefinitely and so needs to show progress at home.

Even though the Indian Government may appear to have broken the stalemate regarding the Sri Lankan Government and TNA talks, it still cannot guarantee that the latest round will result in constructive measures for power devolution. That, together with land and police powers as well as implementing the more contentious recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), will remain tough points to crack for all parties.

With the Universal Periodic Review on the horizon, the Government will be willing to play ball in the short term but even as powerful a mediator as India would find it difficult to navigate talks sustainably. Yet for the time being they have the floor; it can only be hoped that they can show results.