In the last 15 years of the Tamil-Sinhala conflict, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been prisoners of their militarised, brutalised and violence-driven pursuit for a separate homeland. But the LTTE has no less effectively trapped the governments of Sri Lanka and India, with both being hard put to either tame the Tigers or bring them to the negotiating table on their terms. As the situation unfolds on the ground in the Jaffna peninsula, there is no wishing away the fact that the Colombo government will have to sue for peace. There are compulsions for Chandrika Kumaratunga to create conditions that enable her government to resume the process of talks towards a negotiated settlement. In all this, India´s role as facilitator´s facilitator will be critical.
Internationally, Colombo is coming under increasing pressure to settle with the Tamils and recognise their right to an autonomous homeland within the framework of a Sri Lanka where they and their language have equal and non-discriminatory rights. From the United States to the European Union and from NATO to New Delhi, there is now a conviction that this is an unwinnable war which must be ended through negotiations. It was an expression of this growing worldwide concern that British minister Liam Fox brokered an accord between Chandrika´s People´s Alliance and the opposition United National Party of Ranil Wickremesinghe on a bipartisan approach for ending the ethnic war.
Although that accord collapsed, there have been other international efforts with both New Delhi and Washington persisting in pressing for revival of the peace process. France gave up after a peripheral attempt at mediation, and it took some time before the Norwegians decided to take up the challenge at the behest of the US. Not only is Norway an important member of NATO and a dependable US ally, it wears an internationally acceptable pacifist face and has a track record of brokering peace accords, the latest and most notable one being in West Asia. The arrival of Norway as facilitator, with political changes at home not in any way affecting the direction of the initiative, marks a major departure.
Norway´s facilitation is acceptable to New Delhi because it expects to be kept informed of developments at every stage. Norway is also acceptable to both Colombo and the Tigers. While it is one with the world community in accepting the designation of the LTTE as a "terrorist organisation", Norway has proved hospitable to Sri Lankan Tamils, including refugees, and has built an excellent rapport with Tamils some of whom have trusted lines of communication to the LTTE.