When India celebrates its Republic Day with pomp and show Jan 26, a section of the Indian establishment will have its eyes on Sri Lanka, where on the same day people will elect a new president in the first major polls after the decimation of the Tamil Tigers.
The Sri Lankan election is being watched keenly in India, the island nation’s giant and only neighbour. The interest is but natural. India provided quiet covert help to Colombo in its war against the Tigers, and New Delhi wants to know who will emerge the winner — President Mahinda Rajapaksa or former army chief Sarath Fonseka.
