Non-alignment and SL’s foreign policy

Our front page pictures yesterday of President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the principal envoys of South Asia and China, spoke more eloquently than words of the basic premises of this country’s foreign policy. The pleasant atmosphere characterizing these encounters was the proof that this country believes in relating to its neighbours and other states of the world, on the basis of the axiom that friendship should be extended to all, and enmity to none.

In other words, Sri Lanka is continuing to make Non-alignment its principal foreign policy trajectory. No better vindication of the foreign policy thinking of the iconic S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike could have come at this moment when his 113th birth anniversary is being commemorated by this country. If there was one principal politician who put Non-alignment high on the foreign policy agenda of this country it was the late Prime Minister and the fact that the majority of Asian states are our friends today is proof that being Non-aligned is the best mode of being for us in our inter-state relations. Indeed, Non-alignment is the reason why our nearest and dearest friends in the international community are continuing to stand by us.

Therefore it is heartening to realize that the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration is continuing with this invaluable foreign policy legacy of Non-alignment and is building on it. Strictly speaking, Sri Lanka has made no enemies in the foreign relations sphere.

This is largely due to our consistent commitment to the policy of Non-alignment and we are reaping a bountiful harvest from this principled commitment in the form of an abundance of international good will.

There are, of course, some sections in the West in particular, which are strongly resisting Sri Lanka’s efforts to build a new future for itself in the wake of the defeat of LTTE terrorism, in the form of the Darusman Report and other hostile tools and measures, but the more enlightened states of the world look at Sri Lanka differently and prefer to give us all the required space to grow. Some of these states are India, Pakistan and China, the foremost states in this part of the world.

It should not come as a surprise if Sri Lanka’s continued commitment to Non-alignment is earning for it more than a few enemies. This is mainly on account of the fact that Non-alignment is looked at with considerable distaste by some sections of Western opinion.

This has always been the case. When Non-alignment was first enunciated by principal countries of the Third World, such as, India, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia and Tanzania, to name a few, in the early sixties, they met with considerable hostility in sections of the West. Apparently, those countries which were seen as not aligning with the West in its struggle for global supremacy with the former East bloc in Cold War times in particular, were seen by influential Western opinion as being hostile towards the Western world.

The Cold War is, of course, no more but it should not be a cause for puzzlement if some principal Western powers are continuing to be desirous of bending those parts of Asia which are proving to be economically dynamic, to their political will. In this context, Non-alignment would be continued to be seen as an anti-Western foreign policy position.

Since Sri Lanka is not diverting from this policy perspective in its essentials, she could very well be earning the ire of these Western powers which are struggling to retain their toe-hold in the more economically productive regions of Asia. However, Sri Lanka should continue to offer to all its good will and cooperation. While taking on those sections which are hostile to it and exposing their unreasonableness, Sri Lanka would be acting in its vital interests by strengthening its ties with its neighbours and East Asia in particular, because it is these regions which are emerging as the most dynamic of wealth generators. If Sri Lanka is to forge ahead towards prosperity, it is to East Asia in particular that it must turn.