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The Indian and Sri Lankan governments June 28 rejected an apology from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. In a June 27 television interview, Tigers spokesman Anton Balasingham called Gandhi's death "a monumental historical tragedy" and expressed hope that India and the Tigers could put the past behind them. This apology was an overture meant to appease New Delhi -- which seems to be heading toward a larger role in the Sri Lankan peace process -- and keep it from getting too cozy with Colombo.
The last few months of near-constant violence in Sri Lanka and the breakdown of the Norwegian-sponsored peace talks have taken their toll on India's usual steadfast hands-off attitude regarding the conflict in Sri Lanka. Since January 2006, nearly 3,500 Tamil refugees have fled to India's Tamil Nadu state from northeastern Sri Lanka. Though this is not nearly the deluge of hundreds of thousands of Tamils that occurred after a wave of anti-Tamil violence in 1983, it is still troubling to New Delhi. Besides the obvious socioeconomic factors, the influx of refugees also poses a security threat; Tigers often blend in with refugees and establish themselves in Tamil Nadu. The Tigers have occasionally used Tamil Nadu as a base from which to train and equip separatist groups throughout India and conduct significant smuggling operations. The Sri Lankan rebels have also worked to manipulate the state's government by spreading propaganda and sending agents to pressure government officials to sympathize with the Tamils.
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