The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed on 29th July 1987 in Colombo between the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then Sri Lankan President J R Jayewardene in an effort to bring the Sri Lankan civil war to an end. The Accord is popularly referred to as the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord, after its architects Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayewardene. Also Read: Most Important Facts related to Physical Geography of India
The Accord sought to collectively address all the three contentious issues between India and Sri Lanka: strategic interests, people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka and Tamil minority rights in Sri Lanka.
This accord saw the induction of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka.
According to the terms of the accord, Sri Lankan forces would withdraw from the north and the Tamil rebels would disarm.
The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act of 1987.
What is the 13th Amendment?
It is an outcome of the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987, signed by the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayawardene, in an attempt to resolve the ethnic conflict and civil war.
The 13th Amendment, which led to the creation of Provincial Councils, assured a power-sharing arrangement to enable all nine provinces in the country, including Sinhala majority areas, to self-govern.
Subjects such as education, health, agriculture, housing, land and police are devolved to the provincial administrations.
But because of restrictions on financial powers and overriding powers given to the President, the provincial administrations have not made much headway.
In particular, the provisions relating to police and land have never been implemented.
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