Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar recently defended the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka under former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Speaking at the recently held Khushwant Singh Literature Festival at Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, Aiyar blamed the Army and intelligence agencies for letting down Rajiv Gandhi and implied they failed to do the task they were given.

IPKF veterans have come down heavily on Aiyar and accused him of deliberately overlooking the political, strategic, and diplomatic failures that marred Operation Pawan and the IPKF’s role in Sri Lanka in order to give a clean chit to Rajiv Gandhi.

One such IPKF veteran is Lt Col Manoj Chanan (retd), of 65 Armoured Regiment, who took part in Operation Pawan in Sri Lan

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