章 118: Rohan–Senanayake Pact - II

August 1953, New Delhi was bathed in the warm sunlight of a late summer afternoon.

It wasn't an ordinary day. The Ceylonese Prime Minister, Dudley Senanayake, and his Foreign Minister, Sir John Kotelawala, were arriving in India for high-level talks that could shape the future of thousands of people particularly the stateless Indian Tamils living in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

As the motorcade entered the grand gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Officials, journalists, and diplomats gathered around the imposing residence, awaiting the historic talks.

The Indian and Ceylonese flags flew side by side at the entrance of the residence, a symbol of the cordial but increasingly strained relations between the two neighboring nations.

Inside, the Indian Prime Minister, Rohan, was preparing for the delicate negotiations that lay aheah.

The Tamil issue had long been a thorn in the side of both countries.