Facets of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Foreign Policy Vision

Internalizing Inclusivity and Internationalizing Exclusivity:

by Sudharshan Seneviratne-January 22, 2020, 12:00 pm

. (JNU), FSLCA., FNASSL (Emeritus Professor. University of Peradeniya. Sri Lanka’s former High Commissioner to India)
(Author note: This is a condensed version of a longer article written in June 2019 to be published on an edited volume on Foreign Policy Initiatives of President Mahinda Rajapaksa)

 Contined from yesterday

History has it that his apprehension regarding interference within the region became a dangerous reality. He reiterated this sentiment more explicitly after four years at his concluding address as Chairmanship of the SAARC. He conveyed his message on November 26th 2014 at Katmandu. He stated, "While SAARC practice has been to abstain from involvement in bilateral issues of a political nature, we must resist external manipulations," President Rajapaksa further reiterated that "It would be morally correct in keeping with the SAARC spirit to join forces against external threats on member states." He in fact pleaded for the SAARC to maintain its solidarity in face of growing external threats and intrusions that will eventually undermine our unity. Quite prophetic indeed! Unfortunately, contending powers within the SAARC itself did not hear this message.

President Rajapaksa’s long arm of diplomacy transcended the India Ocean Rim reaching out to the African continent in the West, the Middle East and Australia in the East. Our relationships had reached a high water mark with the African continent and Australia during his tenure of office. Many even did not understand the strategic positioning of the Bank of Ceylon branch in Seychelles as a spring board for investments in Africa.

India as nearest neighbour

It was my privilege to be invited by President Rajapaksa in 2014 to represent his vision and mission as his representative to India with a focus on the SAARC region as well. With Narendra Modi ascending to power HE needed to balance our relationship vis a vis India, China and also the West. He needed to consolidate the good will we had globally enjoyed. Based in New Delhi we were required to engage ourselves on Good Will initiatives and mutually beneficial economic engagements. All activities that were undertaken were done with the blessings of President Rajapaksa in an effort to maintain India’s goodwill, mutual respect and also with an eye on the large number of foreign missions located in New Delhi. Our initiative underpinned HE’s own sentiments and message of exclusivity of Sri Lanka’s uncompromising position over its dignity and identity as an independent sovereign nation and also on our ideals on Non- Alignment while reaching out to the neighbourhood with goodwill. He considered South Asia outreach as a dialectical process. On the one hand he placed a premium on the international fraternity of the SAARC (and IORA). Conversely, he did not yield or compromise the dignity and independence of his country and people. This was the duality of HE’s dialectic.

Internationalizing Exclusivity

President Rajapaksa asserted himself at international forums, his bilateral and multilateral connections placing Sri Lanka at the helm of acceptance. In less than three months in New Delhi I came to realize the warmth and respect a multitude of envoys acknowledged his commitment on fraternal bonds of friendship and goodwill. He envisioned global realities and never under estimated the significance of the SAARC, IORA and NAM. Ambassadors from those nations (even Latin America, East Europe) battered by Colonialism and neo Imperialism openly conveyed to me that President Rajapaksa "always stood by us and spoke on our behalf at international forums". Unwavering support he extended towards the Palestinian cause and its people, even under pressure from more powerful countries, was gratefully acknowledged. In 2015 when the regime change was executed by interested governments, that very day, there was a stream of personal visits by New Delhi based Ambassadors at the High Commission expressing their dismay over the regime change engineered by a collective of external powers.

Both, metaphorically and in reality India indeed is our nearest neighbour. We had experienced changing levels of connectivity with India. Indira Gandhi’s regime witnessed a low ebb while it had somewhat volatile situations during Rajiv Gandhi’s regime as well. When Mahinda Rajapaksa became President, India’s mind set had changed somewhat and was willing to support the anti-terrorist effort of Sri Lanka, a reciprocity that was jointly coordinated by the two countries. The troika from Sri Lanka was represented by Gotabhaya and Basil Rajapakse and Lalith Weeratunge who acted on behalf of the President, opening a new phase in Indo-Sri Lanka relationship.

President Rajapaksa had a special place in his heart for India. He understood India and embraced its history, culture and people with affection. He also expected India to reciprocate while understanding the realpolitik that drives India and its policy decisions even after the new BJP regime under Modi. Attending Modi’s swearing-in ceremony HE look forward to a renewal of preexisting cordiality and mutuality taking care of each other in the region. He also understood Modi’s priorities, ideology and action plan encompassing India and beyond. Such were internal and global imperatives including realities faced by India conditioning its mindset. It is with that reality in mind he measured Sri Lanka’s own national interests to establish a balanced dialogue with a friendly India and maintain good neighbourly relationships while securing our sovereignty, national integrity, neutrality and self-respect.

Outreach India

President Rajapaksa’s outreach effort in India was partially done by himself and the rest through our High Commission in New Delhi and its regional offices. He undertook pilgrimages to Buddhist sites and participated at ceremonies in Buddha Gaya and Sanchi not forgetting Hindu sacred spaces such as Varanasi and Tirupati. We had unreserved support on such ventures from the Indian High Commission in Colombo headed by Yashvardhan Sinha and by India’s former External Affairs Minister, late Smt. Sushma Swaraj. He, in fact, engaged himself launching the Buddhist University in Sanchi located in Smt. Swaraj’s constituency. Similarly, he also had an eye over Buddhists at Nagpur, in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

With his blessings we also unfolded the Outreach Programme in India touching India’s Centre, States and its people. We then went on to strategise an India Policy, which was an ad hoc niche in our foreign affairs policy. In his own way, he was working towards reversing this situation. We had to take cognizance of India’s over-arching physical scale; its ability to mobilize resources; wield striking power (at will if necessary) and capacity to dominate; our volatile proximity of location to India; shared socio-cultural connectivity; economic synergy and India as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Our action plan in the next five to ten years needed to be conscious of the above imperatives and craft a short, medium and long term India Policy and not some half-baked reactive parochial "anti-India" response or be the Fifth Column to the West as done by the Yahapalanaya regime. We needed to engage India on a one on one basis with proactive strategies and an open mind while not under estimating our own strengths, though small in scale never to display a dependent psyche.

With his blessings we unfolded the India Policy during my tenure of office as High Commissioner, supported by our teams in New Delhi and Chennai. States with potentialities for socio-cultural interaction were identified and documented for investments; inter-faith synergy; knowledge dissemination; wellness; middle scale industries; diverse tourism promotion; aviation and shipping routes etc. One area of discussion we had was with its Chambers of Commerce and Pharma Industry on the potential Sri Lanka holds as a primary port of convergence and portal for collaborative processing/assembling centers and to re-export products. Discussions were extended to collaborative ventures of state of the art hospitals, Universities and tourism initiatives the latter incorporating a novel concept of Spirituality and Leisure ventures. This concept was unfolded in Orissa, Kerala, Assam and at Chandigarh in Punjab. In the case of Assam we identified tea, tourism and Buddhist tourism. In Punjab and Haryana potentialities were discussed on light industries, education and pharma industries. Holy Guru Nanak’s trail in Sri Lanka was to be combine with Golf tournaments promoted by the diaspora Sikh community arriving from the West. Kerala was pleased to discuss and place on track shipping, tourism plan (luxury cruise), hospital, heritage initiatives and middle level industries. Multiple initiatives were also discussed with Orissa ranging from tourism, heritage, education, ports and shipping. This was complemented by our engagements with Think-Tanks and the vernacular media, goodwill missions engaging cultural communities, dialogues and participation at awareness programs, seminars and conclaves, exhibitions and religious sector connectivity.

President Rajapaksa also understood the need to resolve issues with India that could not be swept under the carpet. The fishermen issue, energy policy, SAARC transportation action plan, SAARC – SAT, Comprehensive economic policies, Sri Lanka’s right to cultivate and nurture international friends are some of these areas that needed to be discussed with an understanding and respect for each other. He was confident that India appreciated the importance of Sri Lanka’s security and neutrality as an asset to India’s own security in addition to being a valued good neighbour. Our neutrality and shared policies based with impartiality, HE believed, would cushion stress and challenges confronting India and may come half way. He wished for an inter-dependent outreach treating each other with respect and affection and not based on a patron – client relationship.

The impending March 2020 Geneva UN Resolutions on Human Rights is a test run i.e. the extent to which Sri Lanka will gauge India’s stand on external interference on Sri Lanka’s internal matters. Conversely, it also has a direct relevance to India as to how external forces will measure India’s internal affairs when it suits them and in the long run that may undermine India’s neutrality and independence.

Epilogue

South Asia must rediscover itself as an "Archipelago of Hope" (after Amartya Sen) in the larger world where we are challenged by questions of social and environmental cost. Humanizing social, economic and cultural interactions within a sustainable environment is seen as the responsibility of South Asia to its resident community.

On a larger canvass, Mahinda Rajapaksa is not a mere politician but a statesman in the real sense. Such statesmen are those who passionately love their country and do not compromise national interest. History will one day vindicate his ideas, ideals and commitment to his country, people and to the world. This is the world Rajapaksa understood and how he engaged himself internally with his people as an affectionate national leader and externally the world at large as a statesman and patriot! (Concluded)