NEW DELHI: Five years before Rajiv Gandhi was killed in 1991, the US Central Intelligence Agency had prepared a very detailed and thorough "brief" on what would happen if he is assassinated or makes an "abrupt departure" from the Indian political scene.A 23-page report, titled "India After Rajiv ..." was put out as early as in March 1986 for comments from other senior CIA officials. However, another section deals in- depth with Rajiv's mediation efforts to resolve "the conflict between militant Sri Lankan Tamils and the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo..."Besides Gandhi's possible assassination, the report also analysed various scenarios of his "abrupt departure" from the political scene before 1989. "In a section called "Implications for the United States", the report says "We believe (Rajiv) Gandhi's death would represent a significant blow to US interests, regardless of the circumstances of the succession. ""...We believe Indo-US relations could also suffer as a result of domestic political changes following Rajiv's assassination. "The report assessed Rajiv's policies ranging from dealing with extremists, foreign relations (including Sri Lankan Tamil issue) to promoting acquisition of selected foreign technology" among others, and their outcome.

Source: Times of India January 29, 2017 07:47 UTC