The Accords continues.....

Premadasa as President brought about a completely

new situation. The Indo–Sri Lankan Agreement was the first casualty.

Though Rajiv Gandhi initially did not favourably respond to the request

for withdrawal of the IPKF, the political change in Sri Lanka and its message

would not have been ignored for long. So, an agreement was reached

between India and Sri Lanka about the withdrawal of IPKF. As per this

agreement, all the troops were to be withdrawn by December 1989.

In the meantime, important political changes took place in India. The

Indian National Congress lost the general elections. Vishwanath Pratap

Singh became Prime Minister. He headed the Janata Dal party, which

formed the Government with the help of certain other opposition parties.

Though the Congress was the single largest party in the House of the

People, Rajiv Gandhi decided to sit in the Opposition.

The Janata Dal Government at the Centre had a different view on the

Sri Lankan issue. It believed that it was a mistake to have got involved in the ethnic crisis. It took a stand against the sending of the IPKF. The IPKF

was finally withdrawn in March 1990. The soldiers came back after doing

a job well under extremely difficult conditions. But the political

dispensation at that time did not properly recognize or reward them for

their sacrifices.

To be continued.....