Sri Lanka?s road to peace has long been littered with the bodies of slain statesmen and commoners. The assassination of the country?s foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, however, has an especially tragic background. It came at a time when the country was witnessing an unusually long spell of peace, thanks to international peacemakers. There is little doubt that Kadirgamar?s killing would threaten the current ceasefire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Despite his Tamil origin, the fallen minister had been unrelenting in his opposition to the LTTE?s violent struggle for an independent Tamil homeland within Sri Lanka. The unity and integrity of the country were more important to him than his own ethnic identity. No wonder the Sinhalese hailed his patriotism just as strongly as the rebels and their allies labelled him the ?betrayer of the Tamil cause?. Undeterred by the criticism and the rebels? threats, Kadirgamar steered a strategy that led many countries, including the United States of America and the United Kingdom, to declare the LTTE a terrorist organization. It is difficult, therefore, to believe the LTTE?s disclaimer on its involvement in the assassination.

Apart from its possible fallout on the peace process, the killing could also have an impact on India?s relations with Sri Lanka. Kadirgamar was known to have been keen on an Indian role in the troubled island?s peace efforts. He was different from Sri Lankan politicians who would see in every problem at home an excuse for baiting India. He was realistic enough to see that the current peace move, though mediated by Norway, would remain incomplete without India?s support. It is another matter that New Delhi had its own ideas about how far it would get involved in it. But South Block has reasons to be cautious about any involvement in Sri Lanka?s domestic affairs. Both Colombo and the LTTE have a history of viewing India?s role with varying degrees of suspicion. After all, the former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi had to pay with his life for antagonizing the LTTE. Despite all this, India has a major stake in peace in its island neighbour. It also involves India?s own law and order issues. For, the LTTE can be a source of trouble not only in Tamil Nadu but also elsewhere in India where rebel groups are known to have links with it.