35 years since withdrawal from Sri Lanka – Firstpost

Today, March 24, 2025, 35 years ago, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) returned from Sri Lanka; the last troops landed in Madras harbour after 32 months with the mission unfulfilled, as it was recalled by the newly elected government of Prime Minister VP Singh.

IPKF was part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 29, 1987, which was designed to secure a peaceful resolution of the ethnic conflict. It took the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SLSF) another two decades to end the civil war that the IPKF, given time, full resources, a clear mission and co-operation of the SLSF, might have completed much earlier. India’s first out-of-area force projection, masked as a pacifying force to subdue the world’s most deadly guerrilla force – the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – has unfortunately been consigned to oblivion.

IPKF veterans have been urging the government for the past four years that they be permitted to ‘officially commemorate’ the sacrifice of 1,172 bravehearts (and 3,009-odd wounded) at the National War Memorial with the authorised panoply of ceremonial honours. Their pleas have fallen on deaf ears; as a former GOC, IPKF (South), I am belatedly adding my voice to theirs.

On a visit to Colombo some years ago, I met the then Sri Lankan Army Commander, Gen Hamilton Wanasinghe, who told me, “Your boys did a splendid job. Our task was made easier as you had broken the back of the LTTE despite your mission getting mired in the domestic politics of Colombo and New Delhi. Thanks to the IPKF, we managed to defeat the LTTE in 2009, even then not without Indian assistance.”

On May 14, 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs extended by five years the ban on “a disintegrated LTTE”. The Tamil diaspora, which at one time was formidable and a key resource provider for the LTTE, today maintains an arm’s length; still, two Canadian members of parliament are demanding Eelam (independence) for Sri Lankan Tamils in North-East Sri Lanka, while Roaring Tigers (symbol of the LTTE) is the name of the Eelam football team.

It is instructive to recall the deeds and dilemmas of the IPKF, which, despite a mission-creep mandate and the absence of strategic guidance, including intelligence (armed with a British tourist map of Sri Lanka), achieved most of its military and political objectives.

After initial setbacks in Jaffna following LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran reneging on the Delhi agreement between the Government of India and the LTTE, the IPKF, which constituted the military component of coercive diplomacy, succeeded in creating a security environment conducive to holding the first-ever provincial as well as parliamentary and presidential elections in the merged northeastern region, enabled by the 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution.

Restoring the democratic process in insurgency-rocked provinces entailed systematic marginalisation of the LTTE, including pushing them back into the jungles. Taking over security duties in the northeast, the IPKF freed the SLSF to eliminate Marxist JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) rebels in the south.

By crippling the LTTE’s capability and motivation, the IPKF prevented the creation of the Eelam (separate homeland for the Tamils), thereby protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Despite a severe handicap in the form of a regime change in Sri Lanka, all this was achieved. President Jayewardene was replaced by Premadasa, who had engineered a secret deal with the LTTE to evict the IPKF. He served a notice on the IPKF to vacate Sri Lanka, a move that was endorsed by then Prime Minister VP Singh, who succeeded Rajiv Gandhi.

This double jeopardy represented a clear failure of coercive diplomacy and political intelligence. But conveniently, the IPKF was made the scapegoat. Operation Pawan — the code name assigned to the operation by the IPKF to take control of Jaffna from LTTE — was the first tri-service campaign with a joint command and overall force commander. IPKF won many gallantry and bravery awards – one Param Vir Chakra and Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, six Maha Vir Chakras and 98 Vir Chakras, besides 300 other medals for valour. IPKF consisted of four infantry divisions (70,000 personnel) supported by the artillery, a tank regiment, special forces, paramilitary forces, combat helicopters, the IAF and the Navy.

A grateful Sri Lanka has raised a war memorial honouring the gallant Indian soldiers who shed their blood for its security. Another war memorial was built at Palaly in Jaffna. At both memorials on India’s Republic and Independence Days, commemoration ceremonies are jointly held by Indian and Sri Lankan government officials. In January 2025, Sri Lankan Army Chief Lt Gen Lasantha Rodrigo laid a wreath at the Jaffna memorial.

Each time Indian dignitaries visit Colombo, and this includes PM Narendra Modi, they lay a wreath at the IPKF memorial. But none of this happens in India; worse, there is no official recognition of Op Pawan and IPKF.

Today, March 24, around 200 committed veterans and their families meet at the National War Memorial, New Delhi, to commemorate IPKF martyrs. They have been waging protracted battles in the corridors of South Block, calling for official recognition of Op Pawan as an honourable and successful military campaign where Indian peacekeepers became peace enforcers.

The performance of soldiers is measured by acts of valour and gallantry, which are commemorated regardless of outcome, as victory or defeat have become so difficult to measure. The British-led campaign in Gallipoli during World War I was an acclaimed fiasco. Yet, Australia and New Zealand (Indian units were also involved) commemorate it on April 25 annually.

The US honours its brave soldiers who fought in Vietnam on March 29; Russia, Ukraine and Belarus commemorate the Afghanistan expedition on February 15. And the list goes on. Op Pawan, by any yardstick, was a military success, despite political and diplomatic failures.

In India, the wars of 1971 (liberation of Bangladesh) and the skirmish of 1999 (Kargil) are officially commemorated and celebrated. Operation Pawan was definitely neither a minor operation nor just a skirmish. It was a full-fledged counter-insurgency campaign with phases of conventional war.

IPKF veterans are seeking a formal and official date for recognition of OP Pawan – either July 29, the date of entry into Sri Lanka, or March 24, the date of de-induction from Sri Lanka. Neither date has been officially approved, though March 24 has been allotted tentatively for holding the felicitation ceremony. The authorised silent ceremony will be half-cocked in protocol for veneration of martyrs, as it will deprive them of the bugles playing Last Post and Rouse, the ultimate honour for a brave heart.

The author is former GOC IPKF South Sri Lanka and founder member Defence Planning Staff, now Integrated Defence Staff, Ministry of Defence. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.