With the ‘ethnic war’ behind it and the elections to the presidency conclusive proving the continuing dominance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the political arena in Sri Lanka,India is poised to re-engage Colombo.

It’s a coincidence that both India and Sri Lanka went to the polls around the same time – both influenced as they were by the fallout of the conclusion of the ethnic war. Ironically, the electoral relevance of the war and the violent end of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was more relevant and immediate to the parliamentary polls in India rather than in Sri Lanka . Sri Lanka voted a leader with a mission – and a possible vision for the future – compared to a political novice, backed by the political Opposition that was discredited for long and disjointed until the other day. Earlier in May 2009,when the ethnic war was its very peak, India went through the parliamentary polls. The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ally of the Congress in Tamil Nadu retained its position at the Centre.