{"id":146460,"date":"2024-12-10T17:30:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=146460"},"modified":"2024-12-10T17:30:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:30:11","slug":"s-m-krishna-played-key-role-in-shaping-indias-response-to-post-ltte-sri-lankan-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2024\/12\/10\/s-m-krishna-played-key-role-in-shaping-indias-response-to-post-ltte-sri-lankan-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"S.M. Krishna played key role in shaping India\u2019s response to post-LTTE Sri Lankan crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

T. Ramakrishnan Courtesy The Hindu<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Taking charge of India\u2019s foreign affairs soon after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, Krishna oversaw \u20b9500 cr aid package, launched project to build 50,000 homes, became first Cabinet Minister to visit Jaffna in three decades<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"When<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When S.M. Krishna visited Sri Lanka in November 2010, he made a stop at Jaffna, the northern city at the centre of the civil war, becoming the first Indian Cabinet Minister to land there in three decades. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late S.M. Krishna\u2019<\/a>s tenure as External Affairs Minister, between May 2009 and October 2012, began when Sri Lanka, India\u2019s southern neighbour, was battling a massive humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prolonged civil war, which had ripped apart the island nation for 25 years, had just come to an end, and nearly three lakh people were living in camps in northern Sri Lanka. The images of the final phase of the war shown on television, coupled with reports of the massive civilian death toll, had aroused strong sentiments among Indians, especially in Tamil Nadu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2018S. M. Krishna was a statesman politician who never indulged in vendetta\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was against this backdrop that Krishna steered the country\u2019s policy, focussed not only on the politics of the situation but also on the developmental aspect: the need for resettlement, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of the economy of Sri Lanka\u2019s war-torn areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaffna visit<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

India quickly rolled out an aid package, including \u20b9500 crore for relief, rehabilitation, and resettlement, and 2.5 lakh family relief packs mobilised by the Tamil Nadu government. Four lakh cement bags were gifted for resettling families of internally displaced persons, while a project to build 50,000 houses was announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Krishna visited Sri Lanka in November 2010, he made a stop at Jaffna, the northern city at the centre of the civil war, becoming the first Indian Cabinet Minister to land there in three decades. He was there to inaugurate the Consulate General of India and the housing project, which he called an enduring symbol\u201d of the India-Sri Lanka partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 S.M. Krishna\u2019s contribution to development of north Karnataka cannot be undermined<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Veteran political activist Sritharan Thirunavukkarasu, known as Sugu, who was present during Krishna\u2019s visit to Jaffna, recalled that all the prominent people of the city had attended the inauguration of the Consulate. Though the former Minister\u2019s speech was brief, it provided a healing touch\u201d to people traumatised by the civil war, he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homage to IPKF<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

During Krishna\u2019s next visit to Sri Lanka in January 2012, then-Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated his commitment to follow the approach of the 13th Amendment plus\u201d, referring to the amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution that provides a measure of autonomy to the provinces. Both took part in a function to mark the Pongal festival in Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 S.M. Krishna: Harbinger of reforms in all aspects of Karnataka\u2019s administration<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Krishna also became the first senior Indian Minister to pay homage at the memorial, near Colombo, for deceased soldiers of the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF), which he described as an abiding testimony of strong bonds of friendship\u201d of the two countries. He also returned to Jaffna to hand over the first set of completed houses to beneficiaries, expressing happiness over the progress of the housing project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T. Ramakrishnan Courtesy The Hindu Taking charge of India\u2019s foreign affairs soon after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, Krishna oversaw \u20b9500 cr aid package, launched project to build 50,000 homes, became first Cabinet Minister to visit Jaffna in three decades When S.M. Krishna visited Sri Lanka in November 2010, he made a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}