Freeing Foreign Policy

Tamil Nadu deserves autonomy from New Delhi to conduct international

relations
By Rohit Viswanath1

The outright majority won by the BJP in the 2014 Indian general elections is, in
many quarters, viewed as a positive development for the countrys policy agenda. The
landslide victory, it is said, provides a stable and predictable environment that will
facilitate the countrys growth.
Those holding the view that a single party government is good for growth should not
forget that India witnessed its highest growth rates during the coalition era. The
tapering off of growth should not hence be attributed to coalition politics. However,
the governments role is not merely to facilitate economic development.
The coalition era helped to deepen Indian federalism. Regional parties which
supported the government ensured that their concerns were heard in the corridors of
power in Delhi. I fear that the rise of the BJP, which is not a national party, would
reverse the gains achieved in the last two decades.
Indias relationship with Sri Lanka is a case in point.
Being from such a State himself, the Prime Minister will very well appreciate that
relations with neighbouring countries have their immediate fallout on contiguous
Indian States. It is a pity that the north Indian domination of Indias policy making
has ensured that Pakistani aggression and ways to deal with it has always dominated
the discourse in New Delhi.
The central governments handling of Sri Lanka reeks of centrifugal elements
threatening to make a come-back in foreign policy formulation. The turn of events
after the elections seems to strengthen this perception. Prime Minister-elect, Thiru
Narendra Modi, ignored protests in Tamil Nadu against extending invitation to the
Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the
new government in New Delhi.
The gesture by India strengthened perceptions in Sri Lanka that the BJP government
will be lackadaisical in its approach towards the island nation. The Sri Lankan
newspaper, The Nation, in an opinion piece carried shortly after the Indian general
election results were declared said, As it turned out, the election results were a
blessing for Sri Lanka. Modi won, but the scale of his victory was such that BJP is in
1

The author is an independent public policy advisor

charge and does not require the support of coalition partners, adding, All these
factors augur well for Sri Lanka and it would be reasonable to expect a change of
attitude in New Delhis dealings with Colombo with regard to reconciliation, refugees
and devolution of power.
The frequent attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities in recent
months speaks volumes for the way the island nation perceives New Delhi and the
decline of Tamil Nadus influence over it. The incidences have reinforced fears of past
heavy handed approach by single party governments being repeated by the BJP. In
October 1964, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri signed the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact,
which inhumanly split thousands of people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka between the
two countries. Similarly without an iota of consideration for the feelings of the people
of Tamil Nadu, India ceded the island of Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka in 1974 as also
the traditional fishing rights enjoyed by Tamil Nadu fishermen. These agreements
were opposed by the Tamil Nadu government, but New Delhi went ahead.
Although it is too early to judge, New Delhis approach towards Sri Lanka seems to
be guided solely by larger geo-strategic and economic considerations that have little
relevance to the common man. Indias Sri Lanka policy should give due weightage to
the view from Tamil Nadu. Any policy that does not take into account the concerns
and emotions of people directly affected by it is bound to fail in the long run.
Tamil leaders have championed autonomy for the states and federalism at the centre.
An ideal Centre-State relationship can be achieved only if there is devolution of
power from the Centre to the States. Centre-State relations in India have been
marked by political mobilisation and intermittent struggle to fashion a more federal
set-up. One of the major democratic movements in the post-Independence period
the movement for the formation of the linguistic States took place in the 1950s,
which resulted in the formation of linguistic States in 1956. The Central government
resisted this demand and gave in in the face of strong popular movements. This
laid the basis for the later assertion by the States for greater powers.
Attempts have been made to impose a unitary form of government in the country.
The character of India as a multinational, multilingual, multi-religious state has been
blatantly ignored. The time is ripe now for a transformation to establish a true
federal system that would strengthen the bonds of mutual cooperation, unity, and
cordiality between the centre and the states.
In Indias federal system, as stipulated in the Constitution, there is a clear
demarcation of powers between the centre and the states, and the subject of foreign
policy vests exclusively with the centre. The ideal situation would be to make relevant
changes to the law so that the central government deals with larger geo-strategic
issues while leaving space for individual states to decide their own foreign relations
that are largely in sync with the former. The recent appointment of a joint secretary
for Centre-State relations in the MEA is a good start. The role should be expanded
to enable the office to become a conduit in the exchange of ideas on foreign policy
between the centre and states. For this it should work in close co-ordination with the
state government. A Tamil Nadu foreign office could be evolved in due course.

Tamil Nadu has been, for long, demanding that diplomats from the state cadre be
posted in countries with substantial Tamil diaspora. Our Tamil brethren across the
world and major Tamil political parties and organizations outside India rank Tamil
Nadu as an unrecognised informal nation. Tamil Nadu can become a geo-strategic
power centre in own right.
India is the fifth largest export destination for Sri Lankan goods and 40 per cent of
the approximately $6 billion trade between Sri Lanka and India passes through
Tamil Nadu. The informal trade through the State is estimated to be nearly double
the formal one. Tamil Nadu should have the option to impose economic sanctions on
the country, if necessary.
The devolution of powers should eventually lead India to become like the European
Union- where people of autonomous states move freely within the Indian union,
enjoy security, participate in a single free-market where they use the same currency
and at the same time have their policy makers respect local aspirations.
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