Geo-political reality and Sri Lankan foreign policy

Jayatilleke DE SILVA

Sri Lanka achieved several achievements in the field of foreign policy recently. The victory achieved at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva when it successfully defeated an attempt by powerful Western nations to censure Sri Lanka, the retreat of several advanced countries who earlier threatened to block the IMF standby facility to the country, the support it received from friendly countries in apprehending KP or the self- proclaimed new Tiger Chief and the commendations it received from a wide spectrum of countries on defeating terrorism stand out among these achievements.

Displeased parties

A United Nations Human Rights Council session

Apparently there seems to be forces and individuals who are displeased at these successes for such discordant voices are often articulated in the media both local and foreign. The comments of those who do so on sectarian political grounds could be dismissed as political opportunism. Besides, the public know their opportunism and hypocrisy and would not fall gullible. More subtle are the arguments and presentations of ‘analysts and experts’ who try to disorient the country from the independent foreign policy it is pursuing. They claim to be objective in their analysis. Yet they are biased towards the West or they cannot get out of the cold war mentality in which they were brought up in the past. Some could even be in the pay books of alien forces interested in destabilizing the country.

These critics ignore both the historical evolution of the foreign policy of the country in the post - independence period as well as the geo-political realty of the present. From independence up to 1956, the country followed a foreign policy based on blind faith in the colonial master. That was well paraphrased by the term “Cadjan Curtain” by which the country was isolated from the progressive nations including the socialist countries. The bond that glued the country to the West was so strong even to refuse permission for a Russian football team to play here or Soviet scientists to visit the country to witness a solar eclipse that could be best observed from here.

At the Bandung Conference, the precursor to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) our Prime Minister earned the nickname “Bandung Donkey”.It was only after the people’s victory in 1956 that the country could move forward following an independent foreign policy which was basically non-aligned and the country’s prestige grew.

Sri Lanka became a leader of the Non - Aligned Movement. Barring a few exceptions under the UNP rule as in the case of the dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina on the sovereignty of the island of Malvinas off the coast of Argentina when the country was isolated from the NAM and the majority of members of the United Nations for voting with the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka has since then followed this independent policy.

Though the country politically followed a non-aligned policy the foreign policy establishment continued to be dominated by henchmen of the West whose orientation and links were basically anti-national.

Re-oriented policy

It is said that vestiges of such forces linger on even now and surface at times. It was the late Lakshman Kadirgamar who as Foreign Minister re-oriented our foreign policy by giving priority to relations with our immediate neighbours and giving it an Asia-centric orientation while being a friend of all countries. Under this new orientation relations with our giant neighbour India took a special character. It is an undeniable and inalienable factor that India and Sri Lanka have enjoyed economic, political, cultural and social relations spanning centuries. These relations have a total civilizational character. Besides, India like China is an emerging global power in Asia. To ignore these factors is to ignore the current geo-political reality.

The world has changed much since the 1970s when relations among nations were influenced and even decided by the struggle between two super powers. The bi-polar world has vanished with the demise of the USSR and the group of European socialist nations. Though a unipolar world emerged with the only remaining super power putting its imprint on world development by force, threatening and invading nations far off from its shores on the flimsiest of excuses and on false grounds, today it has become weaker and unable to impose its diktat despite an arsenal of weapons most terrific and modern most of which no other nation could aspire to have in the short or even medium term.

What is emerging from the ashes of the bi-polar world today is a multi-polar world in which the hitherto poor and voiceless nations of the Third World could articulate their demands and be heard.

Active players

The centre of gravity of world development in economic and political terms is shifting away from Europe and the United States to Asia. African and Latin American nations and all of them in unison have also become active players on the international stage.

The G- 8 is no more powerful as before and the steering wheel of the world economy is passing on to G - 20. Those included under the BRIC category - Brazil, Russia, India and China are asserting their strength more and more. It has been joined by South Africa so that BRICS will replace BRIC in future. Besides powerful regional groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have become formidable with a decisive say in ensuring peace in vital regions of the globe.

The continent of Latin America has witnessed a continental drift to the Left, not in the traditional Marxist sense but as a powerful grouping of independent and pro- poor states at diverse levels of politico - economic development that is distancing itself from the imperialist no-colonial policies hitherto followed. A multitude of regional alliances - Mercuric, Unisur, Alba, Petro - Caribbe, Rio group etc. have begun to play a decisive role in the development of the continent. Even the conservative Organization of American States, which hitherto was a faithful and obedient servant of Washington has changed so much so that the US stands isolated in it. In West Asia, Iran has become a formidable power that the United States is unable to control.

A smaller world

It is in this context that Sri Lanka has to anchor its foreign policy. It is also worth mentioning a few premises that should not be ignored.

The first is that the world is very much globalized today that no country could remain or develop in isolation. There can be no ‘lone elephants’. The development of trade and commerce as well as cultural and other links has made the world ‘smaller’. Development of electronic technology has made communications immensely easier and faster that no country could keep secrets of its own.

The second is that Sri Lanka has its own unique identity. It cannot and could not become another Singapore or another China. Nor could it copy alien prescriptions, however, they may have been successful in their native places. Third is that the world is beset with problems which have to be solved in unison. Global warming is a case in point. Fourthly, it is to be accepted that foreign policy is only an extension of the domestic policy beyond your shores.

A better grasp

The development of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under the Rajapaksa administration shows that it has a better grasp of the current geo-political realities than its predecessors. It has enhanced its relations with ascending powers while keeping other relations intact. Simultaneous strengthening of relations with China and India as well as Pakistan and Iran is a good example of the pragmatism of the new administration. In fact Sri Lanka was able to weather many a storm due to this pragmatism.

The leading role played by vanguard countries of the Non- Aligned Movement such as Cuba,Egypt and India at the UN Human Rights Council in extending and canvassing support for Sri Lanka was not an accident but a consequence of the intelligent foreign policy followed by the administration.

I mentioned earlier that foreign policy is only an extension of the domestic policy. In defending the sovereignty of the country amidst attempts to impose R2P and intervene in its domestic affairs at international fora including the UN Security Council Sri Lanka was only applying its domestic policy of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. Sri Lanka, today, stands taller among the nations of the world because as a small country it stood up to bullying by big countries.

It is pathetical to note that some media commentators, ignorant of current geo-political realities are still trying to take the country to the cold war days or even to the dark age of the ‘Cadjan Curtain’. For example, there was an open plea to President Barack Obama to draw in Sri Lanka to its fold so as to counter the growing influence of China in Sri Lanka. Little did the writer know that though the United States would like to weaken the role of China in the Indian Ocean region and push India into a confrontational path with China it is not able to do so for several good reasons. Not only that India would not willingly jeopardize peace in the Sub-continent by following a policy of hostility towards China but also that the United States would not jeopardize its relations with China which is its principal creditor and customer. Sino -US relations today are much stronger and it cannot be decided on cold war policies. President Barack Obama has openly acknowledged this truth.

There are also attempts to invent a ‘China bogey’. Commercial and trade deals between Sri Lanka are described as attempts by China to get a foothold in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean for its strategic military objectives. This is a case of merely repeating the concerns raised by conservative Western commentators who are also out of sync with reality. To assign ulterior motives to what are simply commercial deals is to see crocodiles in a saucer of water. China has come forward to fund many development projects in the country and nothing but national interest has guided the Government in entering into these deals.

China, one of our traditional allies is the emerging super power that will outplace the United States in the magnitude of its economy. It is the country that is expected to get out of the present financial crisis at the earliest. China’s international relations are not built on its military or economic might. It is built on principles of ‘Pancha Seela’ which espouses friendship and solidarity among nations.

What is required today is to build on the solid foundations of a truly independent foreign policy that has been established now.