The talks, or rather the putative talks, seem to be bogged down in a chicken and egg conundrum of sorts, on whether the core issues should be taken up first in the agenda, or whether the issue of the interim administration that the LTTE wants so dearly should be taken up first.

Preoccupied as they are with the powder-keg of Kashmir, India may not be in the best mood to listen to Sri Lanka's litany. The fact that the Indians have indicated that Sri Lanka's Prime Minister should keep to his schedule with the talks may be a sign that India is not going to war with Pakistan anytime soon, at least not in the next week. But, on a previous occasion when President Chandrika Kumratunga visited India the Indian leadership seemed distracted with the fallout of Gujarat's Hindu Muslim clashes. It appeared at that time that the Sri Lankan problem was not quite in their radar.

A joint secretary from the South Block in New Delhi was then sent to Colombo to file a full report but even so one might need to excuse India for its lack of focus on what happens in its own backyard to the South.

India's hands-off approach by default may not be such a bad thing either, as India's overbearing intentions in Sri Lanka's domestic affairs in recent years have often been resented here by both the majority Sinhalese and the Tamils at different times. But it appears now that because the centre in Delhi, and more so the incumbent administration in Tamil Nadu are adopting an anti-LTTE stance, Colombo is wooing both entities with gusto.

While offers of oil tanks in Trincomalee are being made to the Indian administration, free trade agreements are getting off the ground. More Indian tourists are arriving here, and a state of the art hospital has just been opened up, bringing professionals here from across the Palk Straits.

The new cosying up aside, there is no case for lending the oil tanks on any long-term lease. While economic considerations are a factor, both parties to the oil tank agreement know that the lease is not due to commercial imperatives, but because of the security imperatives in the overall context of the LTTE being given possibly, limited self rule in the North and the East.

Situations can change in the kaleidoscope of time. In 1987 the majority of Sri Lankans hoisted black flags against Indian intervention, but today Sri Lankans are begging India to intervene and get involved. Likewise, though in 1987 the Tamil Nadu government openly financed and provided succour to the LTTE, today, these same political denizens in the Tamil state want the people they nurtured slapped in jail.

But, there is always the possibility of Tamil Nadu one day falling into the hands of those who are sympathetic to the LTTE. Long term commitments of considerable import such as the oil tank farm deal and other mutual agreements therefore need to be carefully considered in that background of facts to ensure that Sri Lanka does not end up a pocket-state of our great neighbour. That apart it would seem that Indo-Sri Lanka relations are back on track; even though at one time it almost seemed bye bye India - now it seems India bhai bhai.

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