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[Reuters]

Published date: 2nd Jan 1985

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Uneasy ties with neighbours 

By Chaitanya Kalbag 

NEW DELHI, (Reuter): Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s massive victory in the Indian general election has given him new freedom to tackle his country’s un-easy relations with its neighbours, especially Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

Rajiv, armed with a huge parliamentary majority, declared immediately after the election that good relations were his goal although on first becoming prime minister after the Oct 31 assassination of his mother and predecessor, Indira Gandhi. took a hard line towards both countries. 

His government accused Pakistan of sheltering Sikh extremists from crisis-ridden Pun-jab state. He also said arms sup-plied to Islamabad by the United States could be used against India. 

Sri Lanka 

Ties between New Delhi and Colombo plunged to a new low in recent weeks with Sri Lanka charging that guerrillas fighting for a separate state for the is land’s minority Tamil community are trained in the south Indi an state of Tamil Nadu. 

Rajiv in turn said during his poll campaign that Sri Lankan security forces had killed innocent Tamils and attacked Indian fishermen in the narrow straits. dividing the two countries. 

In a sign that Sri Lanka was anxious to repair the damage, President Junius Jayewardene was among the first world leaders to congratulate Rajiv on his. triumph, saying he wanted friendship and cooperation with the Indian prime minister. 

Political analysts said the hands of moderates in Rajiv’s camp had been strengthened by the poll victory. 

Pakistan 

His Congress (1) Party, in an election alliance with Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, swept the state’s parliamentary seats as well as elections to its state assembly. 

The alliance delivered a humiliating defeat to the hardline opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which took up the cause of Sri Lanka’s Tamils and called for armed Indian intervention in the island’s ethnic crisis 

Rajiv has struck a note of cautious optimism over relations with Pakistan. 

Pakistan’s President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq called for “the development of a mutually beneficial relationship of trust and confidence and for streng-thening peace and stability in our region. 

Rajiv told reporters two days ago that Zia was very positive about better relations but the Pakistani leader’s subordinates were not. “We are just hopeful. he will stand by what he said,” Rajiv added. 

Disquiet in Rajiv’s government over the situation on the Indo-Pakistani border in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir was revived by the election victory of the state’s former Chief Minister Farouq Abdullah. 

Abdullah, who was toppled by Congress-backed defectors five months ago, won all three parliamentary seats in the Kashmir valley. He has vehemently denied frequent Congress charges that he is pro-Pakistani. 

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 over Kashmir, and their troops have clashed several times recently on a military control line in the disputed mountain territory. 

Bangladesh 

The government has cause for optimism in India’s troubled north-east, where guerrillas have been waging sporadic independence battles in four states bordering China, Burma and Bangladesh. 

Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka plummeted after Bangladesh was accused of providing sanctuary for some of the rebel groups. 

On the eve of the elections Rajiv’s chief foreign policy adviser, G. Parthasarathy, reached a peace accord with Laldenga, leader of an 18-year-old rebel-bon in Mizoram state who returned from exile in Britain for negotiations. 

In Manipur state, currently a hotbed of revolt, the elections passed off peacefully despite death threats to Congress politicians. 

Rajiv’s victory could help him deal more effectively with two guerrilla groups which operate from hideouts of the Burmese side of the border. 

But in the state of Tripura both seats went to the ruling Marxists a rebuff for Congress (i) 

The Marxists had Vigorously Opposed attempts by New Delhi to send in the Indian Army Saying Their State Government was capable of tickling along the territory’s with Bangladesh.