Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement to Establish
Peace and Normalcy in Sri Lanka
The Prime Minister of the Republic of India, His Excellency
Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and the President of the Democratic Republic of Sri
Lanka, Mr. J. R. Jayawardene having met at Colombo on 29 July 1987.
Attaching utmost importance to nurturing, intensifying
and strengthening the traditional friendship of India and Sri Lanka
and acknowledging the imperative need of resolving the ethnic problem
of Sri Lanka, and the consequent violence, and for the safety, well-being
and prosperity of people belonging to all communities of Sri Lanka,
Having this day entered into the following agreement
to fulfil this objective,
1.1 desiring to preserve the unity, sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Sri Lanka;
1.2 acknowledging that Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic
and multi-lingual plural society consisting, inter-alia, of
Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims (Moors) and Burgers;
1.3 recognising that each ethnic group has a distinct
cultural and linguistic identity which has to be carefully nurtured;
1.4 also recognising that the Northern and the Eastern
provinces have been areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil
speaking peoples, who have at all times hitherto lived together in
this territory with other ethnic groups;
1.5 conscious of the necessity of strengthening the
forces contributing to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Sri Lanka, and preserving its character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual
and multi- religious plural society, in which all citizens can live
in equality, safety and harmony, and prosper and fulfil their aspirations;
2.Resolve that:
2.1 Since the Government of Sri Lanka proposes to
permit adjoining Provinces to join to form one administrative unit
and also by a Referendum to separate as may be permitted to the Northern
and Eastern provinces as outlined below:
2.2 During the period, which shall be considered an
interim period (i.e. from the date of the elections to the provincial
council, as specified in para 2.8 to the date of the Referendum as
specified in para 2.3), the Northern and Eastern provinces as now
constituted, will form one administrative unit, having one elected
Provincial Council. Such a unit will have one Governor, one Chief
Minister and one Board of Ministers.
2.3 There will be a referendum on or before 31st December
1988 to enable the people of the Eastern Province to decide whether:
(A) The Eastern province should remain linked with
the Northern province as one administrative unit, and continue to
be governed together with the Northern Province as specified in
para 2.2 or:
(B) The Eastern Province should constitute a separate
administrative unit having its own distinct provincial council with
a separate governor, chief minister and board of ministers. The
president may, at his discretion, decide to postpone such a referendum.
2.4 All persons, who have been displaced due to ethnic
violence or other reasons, will have the right to vote in such a Referendum.
Necessary conditions to enable them to return to areas from where
they were displaced will be created.
2.5 The Referendum, when held, will be monitored by
a committee headed by the Chief Justice, a member appointed by the
President, nominated by the Government of Sri Lanka, and a member
appointed by the President, nominated by the representatives of the
Tamil speaking people of the Eastern province.
2.6 A simple majority will be sufficient to determine
the result of the Referendum.
2.7 Meetings and other forms of propaganda, permissible
within the laws of the country, will be allowed before the Referendum.
2.8 Elections to Provincial Councils will be held
within the next three months, in any event before 31st December 1987.
Indian observers will be invited for elections to the Provincial Council
of the North and East.
2.9 The emergency will be lifted in the eastern and
Northern provinces by 15 August 1987. A cessation of hostilities will
come into effect all over the Island within 48 hours of signing of
this Agreement. All arms presently held by militant groups will be
surrendered in accordance with an agreed procedure to authorities
to be designated by the Government of Sri Lanka. Consequent to the
cessation of hostilities and the surrender of arms by militant groups,
the army and other security personnel will be confined to barracks
in camps as on 25 May 1987. The process of surrendering arms and the
confining of security personnel moving back to barracks shall be completed
within 72 hours of the cessation of hostilities coming into effect.
2.10 The Government of Sri Lanka will utilise for
the purpose of law enforcement and maintenance of security in the
Northern and Eastern Provinces the same organisations and mechanisms
of Government as are used in the rest of the country.
2.11 The President of Sri Lanka will grant a general
amnesty to political and other prisoners now held in custody under
The Prevention of Terrorism Act and other emergency laws, and to combatants,
as well as to those persons accused, charged and/or convicted under
these laws. The Government of Sri Lanka will make special efforts
to rehabilitate militant youth with a view to bringing them back into
the mainstream of national life. India will cooperate in the process.
2.12 The Government of Sri Lanka will accept and abide
by the above provisions and expect all others to do likewise.
2.13 If the framework for the resolutions is accepted,
the Government of Sri Lanka will implement the relevant proposals
forthwith.
2.14 The Government of India will underwrite and guarantee
the resolutions, and cooperate in the implementation of these proposals.
2.15 These proposals are conditional to an acceptance
of proposals negotiated from 4.5.1986 to 19.12.1986. Residual matters
not finalised during the above negotiations shall be resolved between
India and Sri Lanka within a period of six weeks of signing this agreement.
These proposals are also conditional to the Government of India cooperating
directly with the Government of Sri Lanka in their implementation.
2.16 These proposals are also conditional to the Government
of India taking the following actions if any militant groups operating
in Sri Lanka do not accept this framework of proposals for a settlement,
namely:
(A) India will take all necessary steps to ensure
that Indian territory is not used for activities prejudicial to
the unity, integrity and security of Sri Lanka
(B) The Indian Navy/Coast Guard will cooperate with
the Sri Lankan navy in preventing Tamil militant activities from
affecting Sri Lanka.
(C) In the event that the Government of Sri Lanka
requests the Government of India to afford military assistance to
implement these proposals the Government of India will cooperate
by giving to the Government of Sri Lanka such military assistance
as and when requested.
(D) The Government of India will expedite repatriation
from Sri Lanka of Indian citizens to India who are resident there
concurrently with the repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees from Tamil
Nadu.
(E) The Governments of Sri Lanka and India will
cooperate in ensuring the physical security and safety of all communities
inhabiting the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
2.17 The Government of Sri Lanka shall ensure free,
full and fair participation of voters from all communities in the
Northern and Eastern Provinces in electoral processes envisaged in
this Agreement. The Government of India will extend full cooperation
to the Government of Sri Lanka in this regard.
2.18 The official language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
Tamil and English will also be official languages.
3. This agreement and the annexure thereto shall come
into force upon signature.
In witness whereof, we have set our hands and seals
hereunto. Done in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on this the twenty-ninth day of
July of the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty seven, in duplicate,
both texts being equally authentic.
Rajiv Gandhi
Prime Minister of the Republic of India
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Junius Richard Jayawardene
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
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ANNEXURE TO THE AGREEMENT
1. His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and the
Prime Minister of India agree that the Referendum mentioned in paragraph
2 and its sub-paragraphs of the Agreement will be observed by a representative
of the Election Commission of India to be invited by His Excellency
the President of Sri Lanka.
2. Similarly, both heads of Government agree that the
elections to the Provincial Council mentioned in paragraph 2.8 of the
Agreement will be observed by a representative of the Government of
India to be invited by His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka.
3. His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka agrees
that the Home guards would be disbanded and all paramilitary personnel
will be withdrawn from the Eastern and Northern Provinces with a view
to creating conditions conducive to fair elections to the Council.
The President, in his discretion, shall absorb such
paramilitary forces, which came into being due to ethnic violence, into
the regular security forces of Sri Lanka.
4. The President of Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister
of India agree that the Tamil militants shall surrender their arms to
authorities agreed upon to be designated by the President of Sri Lanka.
The surrender shall take place in the presence of one senior representative
each of the Sri Lankan Red Cross and the Indian Red Cross.
5. The President of Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister
of India agree that a joint Indo-Sri Lankan observer group consisting
of qualified representatives of the Government of India and the Government
of Sri Lanka would monitor the cessation of hostilities from 31 July
1987.
6. The Prime Minister of India and the President of
Sri Lanka also agree that in the terms of paragraph 2.14 and paragraph
2.16(c) of the Agreement, an Indian Peace Keeping contingent may be
invited by the President of Sri Lanka to guarantee and enforce the cessation
of hostilities, if so required.
EXCHANGE OF LETTERS BETWEEN THE PRIME MINISTER
OF INDIA AND THE PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA.
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
29 July 1987
Excellency,
Conscious of the friendship between our two countries
stretching over two millennia and more, and recognizing the importance
of nurturing this traditional friendship, it is imperative that both
Sri Lanka and India reaffirm the decision not to allow our respective
territories to be used for activities prejudicial to each other's unity,
territorial integrity and security.
In this spirit, you had, in the course of our discussions
agreed to meet some of India's concerns as follows:
-
Your Excellency and myself will reach an early understanding
about the relevance and employment of foreign military and intelligence
personnel with a view to ensuring that such presences will not prejudice
Indo-Sri Lankan relations.
-
Trincomalee or any other ports in Sri Lanka will
not be made available for military use by any country in a manner
prejudicial to India's interests.
-
The work of restoring and operating the Trincomalee
oil tank farm will be undertaken as a joint venture between India
and Sri Lanka.
-
Sri Lanka's agreements with foreign broadcasting
organizations will be reviewed to ensure that any facilities set
up by them in Sri Lanka are used solely as public broadcasting facilities
and not for any military or intelligence purposes.
In the same spirit India will:
-
Deport all Sri Lankan citizens who are found to
be engaging in terrorist activities or advocating separatism or
secessionism.
-
Provide training facilities and military supplies
for Sri Lankan forces.
India and Sri Lanka have agreed to set up a joint consultative
mechanism to continuously review matters of common concern in the light
of the objectives stated in para 1 and specifically to monitor the implementation
of other matters contained in this letter.
Kindly confirm, Excellency, that the above correctly
sets out the agreement reached between us. Please accept, Excellency,
the assurances of my highest consideration.
Yours sincerely,
(Rajiv Gandhi)
His Excellency
Mr. J. R. Jayawardene
President of Sri Lanka
29 July 1987
Excellency,
Please refer to your letter dated 29th of
July 1987, which reads as follows:
-
Conscious of the friendship between our two countries
stretching over two millennia and more, and recognizing the importance
of nurturing this traditional friendship, it is imperative that
both Sri Lanka and India reaffirm the decision not to allow our
respective territories to be used for activities prejudicial to
each other's unity, territorial integrity and security.
-
In this spirit, you had, in the course of our discussions
agreed to meet some of India's concerns as follows:
(i) Your Excellency and myself will reach an early
understanding about the relevance and employment of foreign military
and intelligence personnel with a view to ensuring that such presences
will not prejudice Indo-Sri Lankan relations.
(ii) Trincomalee or any other ports in Sri Lanka
will not be made available for military use by any country in a
manner prejudicial to India's interests.
(iii) The work of restoring and operating the Trincomalee
oil tank farm will be undertaken as a joint venture between India
and Sri Lanka.
(iv) Sri Lanka's agreements with foreign broadcasting
organizations will be reviewed to ensure that any facilities set
up by them in Sri Lanka are used solely as public broadcasting facilities
and not for any military or intelligence purposes.
-
In the same spirit India will:
(i)Deport all Sri Lankan citizens who are found
to be engaging in terrorist activities or advocating separatism
or secessionism
(ii) Provide training facilities and military supplies
for Sri Lankan forces.
-
India and Sri Lanka have agreed to set up a joint
consultative mechanism to continuously review matters of common
concern in the light of the objectives stated in para 1 and specifically
to monitor the implementation of other matters contained in this
letter.
-
Kindly confirm, Excellency, that the above correctly
sets out the agreement reached between us. Please accept, Excellency,
the assurances of my highest consideration.
Yours sincerely,
(Rajiv Gandhi)
His Excellency
Mr. J. R. Jayawardene
President of the democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, Colombo
This is to confirm that the above correctly sets out
the understanding reached between us. Please accept, Excellency, the
assurances of my highest consideration.
(J. R. Jayawardene)
President
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