India’s encouraging endorsement

The observations made by Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna during his meeting with the media on Tuesday, read like a veritable re-statement of India’s concern for Sri Lanka’s general well being. Most heartening was his comment to the effect that India is ‘ready to help Sri Lanka in whatever way we can in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill.’

However, note should be also taken of the Indian External Affairs Minister’s highly positive assessment of the LLRC report. He is on record that the report could lead to genuine national reconciliation in this country and that it contains ‘many constructive recommendations’. These sentiments and more speak volumes for the goodwill India lavishes on Sri Lanka and if one wants proof of a trusted friend and neighbour, here it is.

Needless to say, India’s response to the LLRC report and other crucial questions centering on Sri Lanka, contrasts strikingly with the attitude of some major powers of the West towards this country. India is one among several other countries of East and South Asia, whose economic fortunes have picked up spectacularly, to come out strongly in support of Sri Lanka in her current efforts to enlighten international opinion on the truth about this country and this is a huge plus in our favour which should be taken cognizance of. There are some states of note of the West, such as, Russia, however, which are also highly supportive of this country in these endeavours and our warm thanks go out to them too.

This abundance of international goodwill Sri Lanka would do well to greatly appreciate and put to judicious use. As is universally known, India and Russia are two of the BRIC countries around which the world economy is beginning to gravitate and it is with these economic powers that our relations should be strongest, although we need to ensure that our economic relations with the rest of the world remain intact and solid too. Brazil, Russia, India and China or the BRIC countries are the emerging economic power houses of the world and Sri Lanka would do well to ensure that our export development drive is orientated towards these countries, besides seeking indefatigably to build and strengthen our economic complementarities with them.

However, the global power structure is in the process of being transformed and it could be a couple of decades before East Asia in particular would come into its own fully against the reigning Western economic giants. Meanwhile, the endeavour of the developing world should be to strengthen and consolidate its collective power and it is clear that India would be a central pillar of this East Asia-centred global power structure.

Nevertheless, the emerging international political and economic order, ideally, should not be viewed in starkly divisive terms. It would not prove beneficial to the developing as well as the rest of the world, to polarize themselves into East and West or North and South, as the international political system was conceptualized during the Cold War years. Looking at the world so schematically would undermine the policy of Non-alignment which has served countries such as ours so well and prevent the world from working unitedly towards world peace and universal economic justice.

However, there is a tremendous amount of work waiting to be achieved by Sri Lanka by way of enlightening the world about the factual situation of this country and we need to progressively strengthen our fraternal links with countries such as India to enable this country and the latter to put the record straight about the progress we are making in the area of national reconciliation in particular. As could be seen, India sees the strengths of the LLRC report and its support and that of other countries that mean well towards us, should be mustered in the ‘Councils of the World’ to put the record straight about our achievements on the path to post-conflict normalization.

As for those states of the West which are seemingly not appreciative of Sri Lanka’s efforts in the field of normalization, we say, give Sri Lanka the opportunity to grow and be an increasingly vibrant member of the world community. They need to put away those blinkers of prejudice and relate to Sri Lanka in the most positive and non-partisan terms.