Sirima–Shastri Pact
Sinhalese nationalists resented the growth of the Tamil population and pressured the government to send them back to India.[9] The central part of the pact was the granting of Ceylonese citizenship to 300,000 of the Indian population in Sri Lanka, while 525,000 would be repatriated to India.[11][12] S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, father figure of the Sri Lankan Tamil community, said "It is an unprecedented move in international relations for half a million people to be treated as pawns in the game of power politics".In 1982, India declared that it no longer considered the pact binding as its implementation period had expired.In 1984, the Sri Lankan civil war caused the suspension of the ferry service between the two countries, bringing an end to repatriations.