A fund of goodwill from abroad

It would be a matter of joy for all Sri Lankans that goodwill messages are flowing in to President Mahinda Rajapakse from some of the world's foremost states - the US, India and Pakistan included.

These messages amount to a strong vote of confidence in the administration of President Rajapakse and in the latter personally.

This fund of goodwill is also proof of the soundness of Sri Lanka's current foreign policy - a considerable proportion of the credit for which must go to the SLFP - led administrations which have been almost a permanent feature of Lanka's political landscape from 1994, except, of course, for the UNF-dominated period, 2001-2004. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, Nonalignment has been a cornerstone of our foreign policy over the past couple of decades and there is no doubt that the current administration would continue to derive inspiration from this time-tested principle in the days ahead.

In its essence, the principle of Nonalignment envisages the maintenance of equidistance in a state's relations with foreign countries and the fact that Sri Lanka has remained on cordial terms with both India and Pakistan over the years is proof of the effectiveness of the doctrine of Nonalignment.

It is important to remember that the late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, one-time Premier and founder of the SLFP, was a leading advocate of Nonalignment. His wisdom is apparently serving Lanka in good stead.

It augurs well for the future that the US has committed itself to working alongside the Rajapakse administration in the search for ethnic peace in this country. A suitable basis has thus been laid for a constructive relationship between the US and Sri Lanka, which the Lankan Government would do well to build on in view of the primacy of ethnic peace.

The undimmed warmth in Indo-Lanka ties comes out particularly in Indian Premier Manmohan Singh's invitation to President Rajapakse to visit India. Our giant neighbour has indeed been a great source of succour in our search for a negotiated settlement to our conflict.

India's unswerving commitment to a political solution in Sri Lanka, which would meet the just aspirations of all our communities, has been a veritable guide post to a just, honourable solution. We could be certain that India would stand by our side in our search for peace as it is the avowed aim of President Rajapakse to work out an honourable solution which would be fair by all our communities.

Likewise, the Pakistani political leadership has wished the new Lankan administration well and needless to say, Pakistan too has proved a faithful friend of Sri Lanka over the decades. Pakistan has emerged a friend indeed in Lanka's external relations and her goodwill towards us, once again, speaks volumes for the far-sighted nature of our foreign policy.

Thus, the external ambience could be considered just right for the pursuit of our national interests, prime among which is peace and national unity. While Sri Lanka must make judicious use of the goodwill extended to it by these principal states to work out a political solution to its conflict, Sri Lanka in turn should collaborate with them to usher in economic prosperity for the South Asian region as a whole in particular.

Ideally, Sri Lanka should emerge as a bridge-builder in South Asia and outside. It is best that we remember that we live in an interdependent world. A world in which states are increasingly coming together to work towards common prosperity. The best manifestation of this principle is the regional bloc.

There is close interaction between a country's domestic and foreign policies. Since one of our principal aims is national unity, this policy should be reflected in a foreign policy which aims at forging global amity.