Jan 13, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the India-Sri Lanka agreement signed in 1987 was the best solution for the country’s ethnic issues, saying that then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi 'had a vision'.

“He (Gandhi) was a great leader, who knew what was going on here (in Sri Lanka),” Rajapaksa said in an interview with ‘Walk the Talk’ programme on NDTV. “India knows the mentality of the LTTE and can put pressure on it,” he explained.

When asked if the Indians saw him as a hawk and if they distrusted him, President Rajapaksa said earlier they did, because of the propaganda of some Sri Lankan politicians opposed to him.

“Now they understand me better than earlier. They know who Mahinda Rajapaksa is,” he said.

The Sri Lankan president said that if then President R. Premadasa had not sent the IPKF away, (in March 1990) the LTTE could have been defeated. Another three or four months of fighting would have seen the end of the Tigers, he said.

Rajapaksa said that initially, the IPKF had indeed underestimated the Tigers. Later, they did acquire the capability to tackle the Tigers. But it was then that President Premadasa asked them to quit the island. The job was left unfinished, he said.