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Foreign policy: Govt. initiates review

30 Oct 2022

By Asiri Fernando The path to economic recovery for crisis-ridden and bankrupt Sri Lanka will require more than economic reforms and structural changes, with the island nation now more than ever dependent on maintaining robust external relations to negotiate aid, restructure debt, seek assistance, enhance trade relations, and rebuild lost credibility in the international arena.  It is in this backdrop that The Sunday Morning learns that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has tasked the State-affiliated foreign policy think tank, the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute (LKI), with reviewing Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and making recommendations on the structure of the island’s diplomatic apparatus. When The Sunday Morning contacted Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry on the matter, he confirmed that the review was underway, but would not comment further, except to say that the process was in its early stages. Earlier this year, Minister Sabry had told The Sunday Morning that a review of the foreign policy was needed. It is learnt that the review being conducted by the LKI comes in the wake of a number of changes at the MFA, with several Sri Lankan ambassadors and high commissioners being recalled to Colombo or in the process of returning after their three-year assignments at foreign missions.   Diplomatic traffic   According to highly-placed Government sources, a number of Sri Lankan heads of missions are returning to Colombo in the coming weeks. Some are returning after the completion of their three-year assignments and some who had their assignments extended are also returning, while some have been recalled. The Sunday Morning reliably learns that the President is keen on recalling a number of political appointees. It is understood that Mohan Peiris – Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York and former Attorney General – will return to Colombo, with the current Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane, herself a retired Foreign Service (FS) officer, tipped to take over as Sri Lanka’s top diplomat at the UN.  Who will take over the role of foreign secretary if Wijewardane takes up post in New York remains undecided. According to sources, Kshenuka Senewiratne, who is currently the President’s Advisor on International Media, is one of the names being considered to fill the role. The post of Sri Lankan high commissioner to Ottawa, currently held by Harsha Kumara Navaratne, is tipped to be filled by Ahmed Jawad on Navaratne’s return, with Rodney Perera being considered for the Sri Lankan mission in Tokyo. It is learnt that Chithrangani Wagiswara, another retired FS officer, is being considered for the mission in Canberra, Australia, while Manisha Gunasekera is being considered for the head of mission post in Paris. Esala Weerakoon is tipped to replace Dr. Palitha Kohona in Beijing. The move comes following allegations regarding the dwindling professionalism of the once-celebrated Foreign Service, which had frozen recruitment in late 2018.  Last month, The Sunday Morning reported on concerns regarding key postings being given to ‘favourites’ and political appointees, with little regard for merit or established procedure.  In 2020, then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had, through a Cabinet decision, empowered himself to broaden his scope of making appointments to overseas missions from heads of mission to include all staff vacancies. FS officers The Sunday Morning spoke to pointed out that such a move opened the door for more political appointments and reduction in efficiency, with many unqualified persons being sent to overseas missions based on political affiliations.   A culture of no policy   According to a senior diplomat, one of the key challenges in formulating a robust foreign policy and effectively structuring the Sri Lankan diplomatic apparatus is the lack of an enduring umbrella policy framework. “Foreign policy is important, yet there are many policies which are parallelly crucial but are lacking in Sri Lanka. I think we have not had a culture of good policy formulation,” the diplomat said, adding that there was no one foreign policy document in the public domain which clearly articulated the national goals and stance in terms of international relations. “The lack of such a clear policy document gives rise to ad hoc decisions and poor decision making, which is an issue that has been Sri Lanka’s Achilles heel over the years,” the diplomat said.  The Sunday Morning reliably learns that in 2019-2020, the MFA drafted a 20-point foreign policy document which was to be later developed into a comprehensive foreign policy document, with the aim of it being the blueprint for Sri Lankan foreign policy for the next 10 years. However, the said document is not available in the public domain and little is known about it. Efforts made to contact former Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage regarding the document failed. Over the last few months, President Wickremesinghe has, through a number of speeches, indicated that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy is in an evolutionary stage, in the face of an unprecedented crisis. The island nation has begun to work more closely with regional power India, while signalling a desire to engage the West, Japan, and international agencies more openly.   The review   According to LKI Executive Director Dr. D.L. Mendis, the think tank has been given the mandate to work in consultation with diplomats and experts in international relations to review the existing foreign policy.   Responding to a question by The Sunday Morning, Dr. Mendis opined that the review process would take at least several months, with a number of rounds of consultation planned. According to him, once the consultations are completed, recommendations on a new foreign policy will be presented to the President and later to Parliament. Commenting on the need for a robust foreign policy, Dr. Mendis stressed that Sri Lanka needed to be consistent in its actions and messaging, while ensuring that the treaty obligations entered into were upheld. “Sri Lanka comes first. But we have to also be mindful of our neighbourhood. As a result, our relations should be a bit better with countries in the region, especially India. The Indians also expect us to take that into consideration. The recent Yuan Wang 5 vessel’s visit is one example,” Dr. Mendis opined, adding that climate change, global governance, and global geo-politics also needed to be focused on to develop an effective foreign policy. “We are party to a number of United Nations treaties. They need to be reflected in our foreign policy,” Dr. Mendis said, adding that Sri Lanka’s claim to ocean resources and the continental shelf would be strengthened if such matters were included in a future foreign policy.   A dynamic world, a new policy framework   Former Foreign Secretary Bernard Gunathilaka, commenting on the formulation of a new foreign policy, said that Sri Lanka could not afford to be entrenched in policies of the last century whilst working in a dynamic world order today. He stressed that the review should be done with a deep study of Sri Lanka’s regional and extra-regional environment and how experts perceive such environments will develop in the future. “International relations are a dynamic and living thing; today’s foreign policy cannot be cast in stone. The bipolar world of the 1980s changed in the early ’90s. Today we have two global powers, while being interconnected and interdependent in a globalised world,” Gunathilaka explained.  He also highlighted the need for any future foreign policy to have a focus on the Sri Lankan expatriate communities, the diaspora, who are now very influential in their respective countries and can be of significant importance to the national economic recovery effort. Gunathilaka told The Sunday Morning that Sri Lanka would do well to initiate a specialised directorate or desk at the MFA to engage the Sri Lankan expatriate communities across the world and facilitate their assistance for the betterment of the country. Further, he stressed the need for Sri Lanka to better manage trade relations with key markets, including the US and the European Union. “We cannot develop a foreign policy in isolation,” Gunathilaka said, adding that the shield of ‘neutrality’ on which Sri Lanka had based its stated foreign policy for decades may have evolved considerably. Gunathilaka pointed out that a number of neutral countries such as Sweden and Finland had joined security alliances for collective defence. Pointing out that the ‘non-aligned movement’ which Sri Lanka played a key role in the past was no more, Gunathilaka stressed that countries that were stronger could hold a ‘neutrality’ stance better, comparing Sri Lanka to Singapore, citing how in Singapore warships and submarines of many nations called at port for replenishment or training exchange with little repercussions. The former Foreign Secretary added that Sri Lanka could use the foreign policy review to restructure the diplomatic apparatus overseas, with justifications sought for the sustainment of nearly 60 foreign missions and checking their efficiency.  He said priority areas could be identified, better budgetary allocations made, and specialists recruited and trained in place of political appointees, which would enable a more professional and streamlined Foreign Service, one that would grow and serve the nation better.  


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