{"id":108773,"date":"2020-11-17T16:43:47","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T23:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108773"},"modified":"2020-11-17T16:43:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T23:43:47","slug":"no-more-india-first-a-rational-and-better-foreign-policy-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/11\/17\/no-more-india-first-a-rational-and-better-foreign-policy-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"NO MORE INDIA FIRST! A RATIONAL AND BETTER FOREIGN POLICY – BALANCE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanley Gunaratne<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

THE\nPOLICY OF THIS COUNTRY SHOULD NOT BE “INDIA FIRST”, NOR GIVING\nPRIORITY TO INDIA. THEIR CONCERNS ARE OF NO CONCERN TO US. IT IS THE HEIGHT OF\nFOOLISHNESS FOR GOVERNMENTS OF THIS NATION TO PANDER TO INDIA AND ISSUE SUCH\nRIDICULOUS STATEMENTS.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order\nto be a global hub and connect to the world, one does not prioritise a single\nregional country. That is completely incompetent, lacking in business sense and\ngiven India’s hostile nature and recent history of them trying to destroy us,\nit is high treason.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore\nbelieved that maintaining a balance of power, rather than becoming a de facto\nvassal of some larger power<\/strong>, would provide Singapore with freedom to pursue an independent\nforeign policy. The interest in the Great Powers in Singapore would also deter\nthe interference of regional powers.<\/strong> It believed in leapfrogging\nthe region<\/strong> and connecting with the entire world. It believed in a\nmeritocracy and the rule of law. It believed in national defence and did not\nprioritise its neighbours over others or common sense! Remember the\nonly nation which thinks India is a superpower is India.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOR\nCEYLON TO SUCCEED:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. We\nmust re-establish the kind of foreign policy we had in the 1940s and 50s. Secure\nour defence<\/strong>. In those days we had the Anglo Ceylon Defence Agreement which\nprotected us from regional players and simultaneously entered into the Rubber\nRice pact with China (which proves our independence and destroys the\nridiculous leftist argument that we were not fully independent<\/strong>). If no\narrangement is made with someone to guarantee assistance in the event of\nattack, then like Singapore we should ensure discipline, national service and\noperational readiness of the nation with a well equipped armed forces such that\nsomeone (especially India) will think twice, thrice and more about even\ncontemplating any skullduggery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. There\nshould be ZERO priority to India.<\/strong> The illegal Indo Lanka Accord must\nbe scrapped. It is pointless claiming “non alignment” when “India\nfirst” contradicts that. Ceylon should not be a satellite state, or vassal\nstate of India. The Indo Lanka Accord has stripped us of our sovereignty and\nIndia currently has control of our Ports and foreign policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. We\nneed THE RULE OF LAW<\/strong>, zero tolerance for corruption and a\nmeritocracy ensuring beneficial tenders and agreements are entered into with\nall on a level playing field in an open tender<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. We can\nengage in a friends with all approach<\/strong> and enmity with none. However,\nthat does not equate to a naive “neutrality” at any cost. The\nNetherlands professed neutrality in 1940. That did not stop Nazi Germany\ninvading them anyway. We should of course pursue the national interest and\naspire to a friends with all policy promoting goodwill amongst all nations as\nwell as the principle of non interference in the internal affairs of another\ncivilisation, or the normal development of any other society. The foreign\npolicy for our region should be a “BALANCE OF POWER” in\norder to prevent any one regional power from establishing a hegemonic status in\nthis region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. We must\nmake up for lost time to strengthen relations with South East Asia<\/strong>. We\nwere invited to join ASEAN<\/strong> at its founding. This was a major\nmissed opportunity. We must attempt to join at the earliest available\nopportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. By\nestablishing the rule of law<\/strong>, Ceylon can take advantage of a multi\npolar world <\/strong>and gain a monsoon shower of investment and blossoming of\ntrade with East and West. That will include private investment funds\nand firms from the US and Europe as well as South Asia, Southeast Asia,\nAustralia, South Korea, Japan and China based on merit. There will be zero\npriority to India. <\/strong>If there is no rule of law, there will be no\nmassive FDI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. We\nmust benchmark against the whole world and not just South Asia. <\/strong>Like Singapore,\nNew Zealand, Estonia, South Korea and Finland, we should aim to be the best on\nglobal benchmarks pertaining to anti corruption, ease of doing business\nand physical and digital infrastructure.<\/em> Therefore, all available\nfunds thus far that have been squandered including future borrowings must be\nused to build up Ceylon’s infrastructure to be EQUAL or BETTER <\/strong>than\nthe likes of Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Japan. We must\naspire to be a FIRST WORLD OASIS IN A THIRD WORLD REGION. <\/strong>Building\nIndian style infrastructure will get us nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. We\nmust utilise and strengthen our historical friendship with China<\/strong>.\nThey have not forgotten how we stood by them at a time of need with the Rubber\nRice Pact. China is one of the richest nations on Earth willing to invest. They\nalso possess technological expertise and an ethos of efficiency which can help\nus build first world infrastructure FAST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May\nCeylon rediscover and realise her potential as a truly resplendent isle and\nbastion of excellence in the world. 
\n
\nI cite this classic dialogue very applicable to our\nsituation:  
\nSir Humphrey Appleby:<\/em><\/strong> Minister,\nBritain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500\nyears: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch\nagainst the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and\nItalians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and\nItalians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now when it’s worked\nso well? <\/em>
\nMinister<\/strong> James Hacker:<\/strong> That’s\nall ancient history, surely. 
\nSir Humphrey Appleby:<\/strong> Yes, and current\npolicy…. it’s just like old times. 
\nJames Hacker:<\/strong> What appalling\ncynicism. 
\nSir Humphrey Appleby:<\/strong> We call it\ndiplomacy, Minister.  
\n
\nCeylon’s policy therefore must be a disunited\nIndia and most certainly NOT “India first”.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is foolish to pander to India. This nation is not part of\nIndia, was never part of India (a nation that came into existence in 1947) and\nthankfully never will be part of India. Let all those who believe that India\nmust have sole priority over the rest of the world go to India, starting with\nthe useless political class who have no vision, no self respect and certainly\nno understanding of the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stanley Gunaratne THE POLICY OF THIS COUNTRY SHOULD NOT BE “INDIA FIRST”, NOR GIVING PRIORITY TO INDIA. THEIR CONCERNS ARE OF NO CONCERN TO US. IT IS THE HEIGHT OF FOOLISHNESS FOR GOVERNMENTS OF THIS NATION TO PANDER TO INDIA AND ISSUE SUCH RIDICULOUS STATEMENTS. In order to be a global hub and connect to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108773","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=108773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}