At an event organized by Rupa Publications and Madras Book Club in Chennai on Thursday, veteran politician K. Natwar Singh talked of how Prime Ministers took some tough decisions and made some comments about Sri Lanka. He was in conversation with N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi and Sons Ltd.

He made some revealing comments on Sri Lanka when asked if the mess in Sri Lanka could have been avoided. He has stated that “too many things had gone wrong from the very beginning,” reports said. While New Delhi had a policy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran pursued a policy thinking that Northern Sri Lanka was an extension of Tamil Nadu, Singh has said.

He also recalled that the then Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardhane, fearing coup, sought India’s help, during a discussion with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “We got sucked into the mess. Prabhakaran was intercepting most of our messages and was always one step ahead” Singh had reportedly told the gathering.

“Rajiv was such a nice person. By 1991, Rajiv was a different person… he became aware of the mistake he had made.” Natwar Singh has also mentioned.

The author of “One Life is Not Enough”, Natwar Singh is a former diplomat and served as the Minister of External Affairs of India between 2004-2005.