Indo-Sri Lanka Accord

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Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed on July 29, 1987, was signed by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayewardene, the Sri Lankan Government made a number of concessions to Tamil demands, which included devolution of power to the provinces, merger--subject to later referendum--of the northern and eastern provinces, and official status for the Tamil language. India agreed to establish order in the north and east with an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and to cease assisting Tamil insurgents. Militant groups, although initially reluctant, agreed to surrender their arms to the IPKF.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) declared its intent to continue its armed struggle for an independent Tamil Eelam and refused to disarm. The Indian Peace-Keeping Force found itself engaged in a bloody police action against the LTTE. Further complicating the return to peace was a burgeoning Sinhalese insurgency in the south.

In 1990, India withdrew the last of its forces from Sri Lanka, and fighting between the LTTE and the government resumed. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and government forces committed serious human rights violations against one another.

In January 1995, the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam agreed to a cease fire of hostilities as a preliminary step in a government-initiated plan for peace negotiations. After 3 months, however, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam unilaterally resumed hostilities.

The government of Sri Lanka then adopted a policy of military engagement with the Tigers, with government forces liberating Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam control by mid-1996 and moving against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam positions in the northern part of the country called the Vanni. An Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam counteroffensive begun in October 1999 reversed most government gains and by May 2000, threatened government forces in Jaffna and heavy fighting continued into 2001.

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