Gota calls for constructive international engagement

By Dharisha Bastians

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday called for the international community to ‘engage constructively’ with Sri Lanka and see for itself Sri Lanka’s post-war success story.

Claiming that countries exerting pressure were narrowing their scope of engagement with Sri Lanka because they were being led by the many misrepresentations and lobbying by special interest groups in their own countries, Secretary Rajapaksa said constructive engagement would allow the world to see the good work the country was doing despite significant constraints.

Secretary Rajapaksa was presenting the keynote address at the Joint Seminar on Political and Diplomatic Challenges Faced by Nations During and After Conflict Confined to Borders organised by the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS). The event was organised in collaboration with the High Commission for Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

He said international pressure would adversely impact the economic conditions of people in Sri Lanka. “The international pressure brought to bear on Sri Lanka especially by Western nations misled by LTTE sympathisers can cause international investors and even tourists to stay away from the country. This will have a very adverse impact on the country’s economic situation, which will be most felt by the people in the former conflict areas,” the Defence Secretary said. He charged that it was ironic that those who cast allegations against the Government were most often those connected to the LTTE. “Immense care was exercised by the Armed Forces to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, while the LTTE relentlessly kept putting civilians in harm’s way. And yet, despite all this, it is the members, activists and sympathisers of this same LTTE that have now become champions of human rights and make allegations against the Government in foreign capitals and at international forums,” Secretary Rajapaksa said.

He added that despite their obvious motives, the lobby had been successful at generating considerable pressure against the Government of Sri Lanka.

The Defence Secretary also noted that the Government would never compromise on national security, adding that maintaining security was a key challenge facing countries emerging from conflict.

He said the globalisation of conflicts meant that the LTTE could reorganise and regroup overseas, where many of its sympathisers and activists now reside. Secretary Rajapaksa said that even in a post conflict situation there can be people from the defeated militant group still active domestically, working in secret or sometimes more openly.

“In a democratic country, when the security situation and restrictions are relaxed, the allies of the terrorist groups can even work through democratic political parties to propagate the same ideologies that led to militancy in the first place. They may work towards rousing the ideas and feelings of people once again to lead them down the path to armed violence. Any responsible government needs to be watchful of such developments,” he noted.

He said that the role of the military in post-conflict situations could change from a visible and overt role to a passive one.

“As in the case of Sri Lanka, the military can step back from a visible and active role in upholding security and commence passive operations through intelligence gathering and surveillance. This helps the military achieve the intended security precautions without being in any way felt to be a problem to the people. On the contrary, one of the most critical tasks of the military in the post war context is to win the hearts and minds of the people from the former conflict areas,” Secretary Rajapaksa.

The Defence Secretary expressed regret that mistrust of the Sri Lankan Government’s motives that began when the Government began building high quality IDP camps in the North continues to present day. He said that they had argued strongly against the Government’s plans believing that the Government was intending to hold IDPs in camps for a long duration against their will.

“This lack of trust in the Government’s intentions on the part of the representatives of these international organisations was very unfortunate, and it is still more unfortunate that such mistrust continues to be voiced amongst some in the international community,” he said.