{"id":108022,"date":"2020-10-25T16:47:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T23:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108022"},"modified":"2020-10-25T16:47:10","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T23:47:10","slug":"a-proposal-for-a-new-paradigm-in-foreign-policy-for-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/10\/25\/a-proposal-for-a-new-paradigm-in-foreign-policy-for-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"A Proposal for a new Paradigm in Foreign Policy for Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dharshan Weerasekera, Attorney-at-Law<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Legend has it that when King Vijayabahu was in hiding and\nregrouping to fight the Cholas an old woman advised him that just as it is easy\nto break a single stick of firewood but much harder to break a bunch of sticks\nwhen held together he should first find the right allies to advance his\nobjectives. The story is very useful when thinking about how to address Sri\nLanka\u2019s present-day foreign policy challenges the most important of which is\nthe Pivot to Asia\u201d by the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pivot has the potential to affect the sovereignty, national\nsecurity and territorial integrity of our country now and in the years to come.\nUnfortunately, to the best of my knowledge there is very little discussion in\nlocal academic journals or newspapers on ways of dealing with this threat other\nthan appeals to neutralism\u201d and non-alignment.\u201d Without prejudice to the\nefficacy of those concepts in meeting present needs, it is in the public\ninterest to explore new ways of responding to the Pivot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of this article is to suggest such a way. I argue that\nSri Lanka should take the lead in forming a new alliance of the low to\nmiddle-income countries that come under China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).\nIn this article, I shall briefly discuss: a) the most urgent challenges related\nto the Pivot that Sri Lanka is facing at the moment, b) the failure of the\ntraditional alliances such as the Non-Aligned Movement, SAARC and others to\nprotect Sri Lanka\u2019s interests on issues that really count, c) the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) The challenges<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two urgent challenges. First, the recent blacklisting of\nleading Chinese companies by the United States. Since Sri Lanka is a poor\ncountry and heavily dependent on the US and its allies for economic support, it\nis unreasonable to suppose that the GOSL can or will do anything on its own to\nprotest against unilateral actions by the US against China or any other country\neven if such actions indirectly harm this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if Sri Lanka is in an alliance with a group of nations\nall of whom are harmed by the actions in question they could more easily\nprotest against them. Also, by providing a market for each other\u2019s goods the\nmembers can help each other dissipate the effect of any retaliatory actions the\nUS might take against an individual member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second is the continuing effort by the pro-LTTE groups active\noverseas to get the international community to endorse a purported right to\nself-determination of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It goes without saying that this\neffort benefits certain powerful nations that for their own reasons wish to\ndestabilise Sri Lanka. Under these circumstances, the worst-case scenario would\nbe for such nations to push for a resolution at a UN organ such as the UNHRC\nsuggesting a two-state solution,\u201d referendum on secession\u201d or suchlike thing\non the grounds that the government is not doing enough to address the\n\u2018grievances\u2019 of the minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial resolution could be expanded over time in the same way\nthat the UNHRC resolutions starting in 2012, which called for an international\nwar crimes investigation against Sri Lanka, were expanded at successive\nsessions of the Council until the sought for goal was achieved in March 2014.\nIt is crucial that if there is the slightest attempt at a repeat performance\nexcept this time in regard to a two-state solution\u201d the GOSL nip such attempt\nin the bud. The value of an alliance of nations that would stand with Sri Lanka\nin this situation is incalculable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) The Failure of the Traditional Alliances<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a) Non-Aligned Movement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pandit Nehru, one of the architects of non-alignment explained\nthat the purpose of the movement was to help the former colonies pursue an\nindependent foreign policy without getting dragged into military alliances\neither with the US or the Soviet Union. In 1961, at the first summit of the\nmovement held in Belgrade he said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We call ourselves non-aligned countries. The word \u2018non-aligned\u2019\nmay be differently interpreted, but basically it was coined and used with the\nmeaning of being non-aligned with the great power blocs of the world.\n\u2018Non-aligned\u2019 has a negative connotation. But if we give it a positive\nconnotation, it means nations which object to living up for war purposes, to\nmilitary blocs, to military alliances and the like\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, today, the NAM is all but dead because of three\nreasons: a) many NAM members including India are now firm allies and partners\u201d\nof the US, b) the common experience of colonialism no longer evokes the same\npassion among the various members as it once did and many members especially in\nAfrica are racked with internal conflicts including the rise of Islamist\nextremism, and c) regional organizations such as the African Union,\nOrganization of Islamic Cooperation and others now cater to the needs of their\nmembers far more than the NAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NAM has failed Sri Lanka specifically in recent years when the\nseries of UNHRC resolutions mentioned earlier were being brought against this\ncountry. It is now universally recognized that the culminating resolution in\nthat series, resolution 30\/1 of October 2015 contains provisions inimical to\nSri Lanka\u2019s sovereignty. To my knowledge, the NAM did not utter a word of\nofficial condemnation at what was being done and key NAM members such as India\neven voted for the resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

b) SAARC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAARC was established in 1985 as a forum to address the security\nand economic concerns particular to South Asia. However, many critics have\npointed out that SAARC has been perennially impeded in reaching its goals\nbecause of two reasons: a) the continuing rivalry between India and Pakistan,\nb) India\u2019s hegemonic ambitions. Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, the Pakistani scholar\nsays, South Asia\u2019s structure is such that there exists the overwhelming\npredominance of India contained by the presence of Pakistan, which is strong\nenough to resist the domineering attempts of India. The feelings of being\nsubjected to a hegemonic system are not conducive to accelerated evolution of\ncollectivity.\u201d (Gonzalvez and Jetly 1999: 95)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

c) Commonwealth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commonwealth is based on the shared experience of its members\nas former colonies of Great Britain. Presumably, these members are committed to\nthe institutions that Britain bequeathed to them chief amongst which are: the\ntradition of the Common Law, respect for the rule of law, democracy and\nindividual rights. The Commonwealth has failed Sri Lanka in recent years by not\nprotesting when the UNHRC resolutions mentioned earlier were being brought\nagainst it. Worse, a number of Commonwealth nations most notably the UK played\na key role in pushing the said resolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK also remains a staunch supporter of resolution 30\/1. Recall\nthat, the GOSL withdrew from the co-sponsorship of that resolution in March\n2020 stating that it was harmful to Sri Lanka\u2019s interests. However, the UK\nalong with four other nations\u2014the so-called core group\u201d on Sri Lanka\u2014told the\nCouncil this past June: We reiterate our profound disappointment at this\ndevelopment. We remain firmly committed to advancing the resolution\u2019s goals.\u201d\n(30th June 2020, www.gov.uk<\/a>.) In sum, the\nquestion arises whether with friends like this one needs enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) The Plan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BRI is a vast network of roads, railroads and harbours\nconnecting Asia with the Middle East, Africa and Europe. There is no question\nthat the network offers the low to middle-income countries along the route an\nunparalleled chance to achieve rapid economic growth. Accordingly, the BRI is a\nresource that these nations share and it is in their mutual interest to ensure\nthat the network is maintained and indeed developed to its full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This economic self-interest is a powerful incentive for the nations\nconcerned to band together regardless of differences in ideology, religion,\nlanguage and culture in order to oppose powerful nations\u2014whether the US and its\nallies on the one hand or China on the other\u2014if they impede their ability to\nenjoy the full benefits of the BRI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main difference between this alliance and previous alliances\nis that this is forward-looking, meaning that the physical infrastructure of\nthe BRI is the basis for the relationship and so an intellectual and social\nculture common to the network can develop over time based on mutual\ncooperation. Sri Lanka is in a unique position to initiate a dialogue on the\nalliance because of its history as a vital link in the ancient \u2018Silk Road\u2019, of\nwhich the BRI is the modern-day incarnation. Sri Lanka has had contacts with\nmost of the nations along the route for hundreds of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pivot to Asia\u201d by the U.S. poses challenges that Sri Lanka\nsimply cannot face alone. The BRI offers a basis for an alliance with nations\nsimilarly situated to Sri Lanka, which it is in this country\u2019s interest to\nexplore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dharshan Weerasekera, Attorney-at-Law Legend has it that when King Vijayabahu was in hiding and regrouping to fight the Cholas an old woman advised him that just as it is easy to break a single stick of firewood but much harder to break a bunch of sticks when held together he should first find the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dharshan-weerasekera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}