In the turbulent 1980s, amid Sri Lanka’s brutal ethnic conflict, a daring Indian diplomat ventured into enemy territory on a mission that could have cost him his life. Hardeep Singh Puri, then a senior Indian Foreign Service officer stationed in Colombo, was tasked with the impossible: secretly meeting LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the mine-infested jungles of Jaffna to brief him on a pivotal peace accord.
Born on February 15, 1952, in Delhi’s Daryaganj, Puri had already built a reputation for courage and diplomatic finesse. Sri Lanka was reeling from a vicious civil war between the government and Tamil militants led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Prabhakaran, accused of assassinating a president, a former prime minister, and attempting to kill another, was public enemy number one. Meeting him meant navigating booby-trapped paths under constant threat of ambush.
Undeterred, Puri, accompanied by naval officer BK Gupta, trekked through perilous terrain. Initial contacts with LTTE intermediaries were tense; trust was nonexistent. They were blindfolded and led in circles through the darkness to disorient them before finally reaching Prabhakaran’s hideout. There, in a high-stakes encounter, Puri delivered India’s message about the impending Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987, inviting the rebel leader to New Delhi for talks.
An LTTE cadre quipped that Puri was taking away their ‘national treasure.’ Puri assured safe return regardless of outcomes, showcasing nerves of steel. His persuasion worked; it paved the way for the accord that deployed the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to enforce peace, fundamentally altering bilateral relations.
Puri’s career trajectory reflects a life of public service. A law graduate from Hindu College, where he cut his teeth in student politics with ABVP, he joined the BJP in 2014. Rising swiftly, he became Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs in 2017, took on Civil Aviation in 2019, and by 2021, served as Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister while representing Uttar Pradesh in Rajya Sabha.
This clandestine mission underscores Puri’s pivotal role in India’s foreign policy triumphs, strengthening India-Sri Lanka bonds that endure today. His story is a testament to diplomacy’s high-wire act in conflict zones.