Foreign policy in retrospect - I

In the run up to the Presidential elections foreign policy has been a subject under discussion in the media. Yet most of them have been scant references or comments without substantiation or in-depth study. Very often these references merely repeat wild accusations put forward by foreign powers with vested interests. It is necessary to analyse the foreign policy with respect to its basis and historical evolution in post-independence Sri Lanka. Then only could one appreciate the pluses and minuses in the current foreign policy of Sri Lanka.

Foreign policy is always organically linked with the domestic policy. The two are inseparable as the two sides of a coin. It naturally depends on the position the country occupies in the global community of nations. It is dictated by the national interest. The latter may also change from time to time depending on the domestic, economic and political situation.

There are, however, basic premises that form the basis of foreign policy.

Sri Lanka is a developing country. It is still struggling to get rid of the vestiges of colonial and neo-colonial plunder of its resources. Overcoming backwardness and reaching a developed status is its first priority. This necessitates a foreign policy that would promote independent development of the country - its economy and politics.

Historically, it took quite some time for Sri Lanka to orient its foreign policy to this imperative necessity. The comprador bourgeois rulers to whom power was transferred by the British were happy to follow the colonial master even to the extent of imitating the colonial dress with the first Prime Minister wearing the top hat and the tail coat imitating the white sahibs.

Even politically Sri Lanka (Ceylon) remained in the security orbit of the United Kingdom through the maintenance of British naval and air bases in its soil, undermining the country’s sovereignty.

It was left to the People’s victory of 1956 to strengthen our sovereignty by ordering the evacuation of these bases. The cadjan curtain wound round the island was removed and for the first time Sri Lanka established relations with all countries, including the socialist and newly independent states.

In the sphere of the economy, Sri Lanka remained an appendage of the colonial powers supplying them with raw materials and importing their finished products. It was after 1956 and particularly after 1960 that efforts were made to develop indigenous industries.

Yet, whatever independence gained was again mortgaged by the UNP administration that came to power in 1977 by opting to follow the neo-liberal economic model that has proved to be a disaster today. The Robber Barons were welcomed with open arms and they began dictating terms to the detriment of the country’s sovereignty and international prestige. During the Malvinas dispute Sri Lanka was a lonely voice among the Third World countries that openly supported the United Kingdom.

During the 1980s the naked pro-Western foreign policy conducted by Sri Lanka even irked our closest neighbour India. It caused so many complications in the Indo-Sri Lankan relations with India even invading our air space and subsequently imposing a treaty on us whose appendices even bordered on infringing our sovereignty.

It was left to the People’s Alliance Government to prevent the isolation of Sri Lanka among the world community. The first thing it did was to discard the Euro-centric foreign policy and re-orient it so as to make it Asia-centric and South Asia-centric in particular. The soiled relations with India were amended and a new chapter of friendly cooperation began.

The enhancement of the threat of terrorism made it compulsory for Sri Lanka to seek foreign assistance in meeting that challenge. In this respect the government sought the support of foreign nations that had large pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora to prevent the collection of funds in those countries for terrorist acts in Sri Lanka. The assistance received in this regard through proscription of the LTTE and the seizure of its financial assets helped a great deal in thwarting the Tiger attack and denting its military might. To this must be added the sharing of intelligence with foreign powers that had an LTTE presence in their territory or whose territory was used by the LTTE for transshipment of military hardware.

It must be mentioned here that the September 11 WTC attack on New York in 2001 also produced a favourable climate for Sri Lanka to push for the suppression of foreign terrorist funding in many countries.