The Indian peace‐keeping force in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The deployment of the Indian Peace‐Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, between 1987 and 1990, is examined here in relation to the long‐established principles that peacekeeping is conducted impartially, by consent, with minimum force, and on a multilateral basis frequently under the authority of the United Nations. Although it has been argued that the IPKF intervened in Sri Lanka by consent, as a consequence of the Indo‐Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987, the political and strategic background of the Tamil crisis indicates that the intervention reflected India's policies as the regional hegemonic power. The intervention also represented a fundamental departure from the traditional parameters of peacekeeping in terms of the IPKF's lack of impartiality and the level of force which was used. However, this case study has much salience in the post‐Cold War security environment, marked as it is by internal disputes which provide fresh challenges to the role of the UN and the norms of peacekeeping.