INDIA’S UNWARRANTED INTERVENTION IN AN ISLAND’S ETHNIC QUESTION: THE ROLE OF THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM IN INDO-SRI LANKA RELATIONS

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was a terrorist organization that ravaged the island nation of Sri Lanka for three decades. In their quest for a separate state for Tamils within Sri Lanka, the LTTE received much help from India. Why did the subcontinent aid a rising terrorist organization to wage war against an immediate neighbor and a longtime ally? Indo-Lanka relations regarding the LTTE have developed along bitter lines defined by a curious mixture of friendship, misunderstandings, unanswered questions and unasked questions. This paper evaluates the shifts and dynamics of Indo-Lanka relations shaped by the LTTE factor, the play of international actors in this major exchange, and the implications of these developments for South Asia.