Russia’s goodwill gesture

The Sri Lankan nation was made to feel proud on Sunday when the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia conferred its most prestigious honour on the Lankan Head of State. This, considering that Russia was the nucleus of the once Super Power state and for a leader of a tiny nation to be honoured in the Kremlin Hall in the manner that was witnessed is indeed a signal honour bestowed on that country.

It was only two weeks ago that President Mahinda Rajapaksa received the acclaim of the Sri Lankan voter who re-elected him for a second term with an unprecedented majority. On Sunday he was the toast of Russia’s legendary seat of learning once named after the famous Patrice Lumumba which conferred on him the Doctorate Honoris Causa.

President Rajapaksa became the sixth Head of Government to be awarded the Doctorate conferred for his contribution to World Peace. The award could also be considered an honour bestowed on Sri Lanka by the Russian state and a reinforcement of the economic and cultural ties between the two countries that go back to more than a century.

Sri Lanka first established diplomatic ties with the then Soviet Union in 1956 under the Premiership of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike at a time when the fierce Super Power rivalry was just beginning to manifest itself in an increasingly bi-polar world.But it is to the credit of visionary thinking of Bandaranaike that he saw the need to cultivate the socialist bloc although he himself was grounded in the Western school of thought.He invited Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev to visit the country which saw relations between the two countries reaching a new high.

This also paved the way for stronger trade ties between the two nations with the result that Russia today is the largest buyer of our tea. The deep friendship nurtured with the Soviet Union by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was followed by his widow Sirima Bandaranaike during whose reign the relations between the two countries came to a peak. The socialist stance and outlook of the Government not inconsiderably contributed to the chemistry that worked between the two nations.

It is this friendship and concord built during this period that was subsequently to work towards Sri Lanka’s tremendous advantage most notably during the war years, where Russia helped Sri Lanka by providing education on battlefield tactics to the Sri Lankan Army. Russia also helped Sri Lanka obtain Russian based weapons from several countries throughout the past 30 years.Examples of this are the Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG -22 used by the Sri Lankan Air force and T-54/55 battle tanks used by the Sri Lankan Army.

But the most telling vindication of Sri Lanka’s policy towards the Soviet Union was seen in the UN where Russia always stood in the defence of Sri Lanka in almost every resolution brought against it. The one that readily comes to mind is when the EU, Canada and Mexico brought a Ceasefire Bill against the Sri Lanka Army. But Russia along with China overwhelmingly vetoed the Bill striking it down.

Later the war crimes Bill tabled by the West against the Government of Sri Lanka was also struck down by Russia, China, the African Union and several other countries.

It is indeed fitting that President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was a member of that 70 -77 regime as the youngest MP has today been honoured by the most prestigious University of the Russian State which goes to show the extent of the goodwill that has been growing towards Sri Lanka in all those intervening years.

The signal honour conferred on Sri Lanka should no doubt open the door for new avenues and opportunities for the country. This would no doubt be the most significant in the context of the new peace achieved after end of 30 years of civil war.

While part of the doctorate was for “ contributing to world peace by defeating terrorism” included also is the President’s service to education and development. This shows that Russia is cognizant with the development strategies that are being pursued by President Rajapaksa in post war Sri Lanka and may wish to be a key player in the renaissance that is about to be witnessed. Thus this is the ideal time for Sri Lanka to seize on this new gesture of renewed friendship by the Russian State to take the country to new vistas of development and progress.