INDIA, SRI LANKA'S SECURITY INSEPARABLE

SHIVSHANKAR MENON

- By Kelum Bandara

India's former National Security Adviser and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, in an interview with Daily Mirror, discusses how IndiaSri Lanka relations have evolved over the time and India's role in ending the war against the LTTE. Mr. Menon was in Sri Lanka to attend the Indian Ocean Conference organized by Pathfinder Foundation. As the Foreign Secretary of India during the last leg of war in Sri Lanka, he was a member of the Troika Mechanism established on the part of India to engage Sri Lanka diplomatically and take vital decisions related to the conflict.

For me, from an Indian point of view, we have a relationship with Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a very important neighbour. There's no question that our faiths are linked. Across the Palk Strait, we're so close in every respect. Our security is linked. Our prosperity is linked. Irrespective of governments coming and going, despite good times and bad times, that relationship between India and Sri Lanka has endured. We have consistently built that relationship.

We've tried very hard to build it. Even in the middle of the war, we did the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). I think it helped both sides. There's no question for me. This is a very important relationship for India. I was the National Security Adviser. So, it is so obvious from a security point of view that we have worked together. It's important.

But more than that, it's also important in terms of regional cooperation, the Indian Ocean, fisheries and the livelihood of our people. There are common ethnicities across the border. As a result, the welfare of our peoples and all these things matter.

Out of the Indian coast. Well, it could be. Our security is linked. What happens in India affects Sri Lanka. What happens in Sri Lanka affects India. We are so close.