India’s Sri Lanka Policy: Towards Economic Engagement

India's Sri Lanka policy since 1991 is one example of how India's foreign policy imperatives, redefined by the end of the Cold War and the introduction of liberal economic reforms, have impacted relations with an unstable neighbour. Instead of a relationship focused on conflictintervention, India's policy has pushed economic engagement into the lead role in bilateral relations. The success of this shift in policy suggests that a policy emphasizing economic relations and backing away from the highly contentious political issues of conflict-intervention, helped India push past the mistrust and resentment upon which India-Sri Lanka relations floundered in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The lesson one can learn from this is the potential of economic linkages to overcome a political fall-out. Can a similar economicled approach now be applied to affect a positive Indian influence on the Sri Lankan conflict and other conflicts in the South Asian region?