'Army, Intel Let Down Rajiv Gandhi': Mani Shankar Aiyar Defends Former PM's Sri Lanka Policy

Last Updated:October 13, 2025, 12:14 IST

Mani Shankar Aiyar claimed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was “let down” by the Indian Army and intelligence agencies during the Sri Lanka intervention.

A file photo of Mani Shankar Aiyar (PTI)

Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Sunday claimed that the Army and the intelligence “let down" former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian Express reported, as the Congress leader blamed failures within the Indian establishment for the collapse of Rajiv Gandhi’s Sri Lanka policy.

Addressing the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival 2025, Aiyar drew sharp contrasts between Rajiv Gandhi’s political choices and the policies of the current administration, which he accused of neglecting India’s geographic and social peripheries.

At the event, Aiyar also defended the 1987 accord and the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) as an effort to prevent the disintegration of Sri Lanka and avert a spillover that might inflame separatist sentiment in Tamil Nadu.

“Rajiv Gandhi knew that disintegration in Sri Lanka might cause disintegration in India," the report quoted Aiyar as saying, adding that the accord had the army’s agreement and envisaged peacekeepers acting at Colombo’s request to stabilise the country, not to conquer it.

However, that operation went badly wrong, he said, flagging the alleged shortcomings in planning and execution and accused parts of the Indian establishment of misreading the ground.

“The Indian Army let him down, Indian intelligence let him down. He persisted with what he thought was necessary and paid a heavy political price," the report quoted Aiyar as saying.

He added that misjudgments about key Tamil leaders and militant groups compounded the tragedy.

On a question of who commissioned the Ramayana television serial at a time when communal tensions were high and the BJP’s rise had been catalysed by the Babri movement, Aiyar, according to the report, said, “It was Rajiv Gandhi’s initiative."

“Rajiv Gandhi was extremely proud of our heritage. Commissioning the Ramayana was to invoke a major part of our cultural legacy on what was then a very new medium," Aiyar said.

He added that while the epics contain both good and evil, the intent was to celebrate India’s composite culture, not to justify any religious mobilisation.

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Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

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