Picture this: dense Sri Lankan jungles laced with landmines, LTTE snipers lurking, and a diplomat walking straight into the lion’s den. That was Hardeep Singh Puri’s reality in 1987, when he executed a covert operation to meet the world’s most wanted insurgent, Prabhakaran, and secure buy-in for a landmark peace agreement.
The backdrop was Sri Lanka’s ethnic strife, with Tamils demanding autonomy amid government crackdowns. Prabhakaran’s LTTE had a bloody ledger—presidential assassinations and relentless guerrilla warfare. India, aiming to broker peace, needed to inform him of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. Puri, a seasoned IFS officer born in 1952 Delhi, drew the short straw.
With naval escort BK Gupta, Puri plunged into Jaffna’s no-man’s-land. LTTE scouts vetted them warily, rejecting initial advances. Night fell; they were spun around in a disorienting march to Prabhakaran. In the clandestine meet, Puri extended Delhi’s invitation, promising safe passage back. ‘You’re absconding with our national asset,’ jested an aide. Puri’s poise clinched it, post-July 1987 accord signing.
This wasn’t bravado alone; it was strategic diplomacy that introduced IPKF and reset India-Sri Lanka dynamics, fostering economic and cultural ties that persist.
Puri’s journey from student activist at Hindu College—ABVP roots, law degree—to political heavyweight is inspiring. Joining BJP in 2014, he helmed urban affairs, aviation, commerce, and now petroleum ministries, elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from UP in 2020. His memoir-like interviews reveal the human cost of such missions, blending valor with vision for India’s global stature.