SRI LANKA-I: Roots Of India's Policy.

THE Government of India had an excellent opportunity to break from the disastrous policy which the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi regimes pursued to-wards Sri Lanka as it grappled with the ethnic question. Minus the mother and son's imperial gloss, the government has followed the same policy of old based on the great power complex and obsession with southern comfort. In the course of just one month, May 2000, a fine opportunity has been squandered. As before, a conflict is misperceived between friendship with Sri Lanka and the interests of the Tamils there. In truth, it is friendship, not pressure tactics, that will fortify India's intercession on their behalf. RELATIONS

Only a few days before the crisis erupted, the MEA's Annual Report 1999-2000 was published. It said: "India's relations with Sri Lanka continued to be cordial and friendly. India expressed its consistent support for a peaceful settlement of the ethnic conflict within the …