Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday, 30 August 2014 03:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The proceedings of the past three days have provided all of us with a really nuanced understanding of the challenges to Sri Lanka in the post-conflict era, but more importantly it has also shown us the myriad of opportunities that exist for Sri Lanka and for our partners regionally, during our ascendance.
It is an enormous tribute to the Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for having conceptualised this Defence Seminar, because it provides an eminently suitable platform to bring together military personnel, civilians, academicians, and researchers, all coming together, discussing the Sri Lankan model, sharing their thoughts, and having intellectual discourse and dialogue. I think this Defence Seminar in its fourth year has really defined its place in international defence conferences.
Sri Lanka
As you know, we in Sri Lanka have a rich 2,500-year history and heritage, a spiritual and cultural aesthetic, of which we are justifiably proud. Our two greatest strengths are, firstly, our people, and secondly, our geostrategic position.
Throughout all the difficulties we have had over the past centuries, from the Colonial legacy, to the World Wars, to the 28-year conflict with the terrorists, and to the tsunami, what has really stood us through these difficult times, has been the strength of our people. It is an enormous tribute, particularly with the 28-year terrorist conflict, to the commitment, dedication, resilience, and fortitude, of our Sri Lankan forces, who sacrificed their lives, and their families, in service to our Country. All of you in the Sri Lankan forces present here today, who have sacrificed so much for us, it is because of you that we are free; and we owe all of you an enormous debt of gratitude.
We achieved that freedom in May 2009, under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the pivotal role of the Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In achieving that peace, we exercised the greatest human right, which is the right to life, because since then we have not had a single major terrorist incident, and all the people of Sri Lanka, Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim, Burgher, Malay, are free of the autocracy and hegemony of terrorism.
During this Defence Seminar, the Keynote speaker Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, gave a comprehensive and perspicacious analysis of the context and history of Sri Lanka from an economic and cultural perspective, and also spoke about our current macroeconomic environment, and potential for the future. That was preceded by Lt. Gen Daya Ratnayake, Commander of the Army, who in his welcome address focused on the interaction between security, development and prosperity, and also articulated the Sri Lankan model for defeating terrorism.
"I said initially that the strength of Sri Lanka is our people and our geostrategic location. The final point I’d like to make about our people, and also for the countries who are present here today, is that most of us have a tremendous diversity of our people, of ethnic backgrounds and religions, and rather than fearing them, I think we should all realise that this is the true wealth of our countries. The wealth of our countries is the diversity of our people, and it is up to all of us, domestically and regionally, to leverage on that diversity. But in order to do that, we have to respect each other with our differences, because I believe that it is when we respect each other’s diversity, that we give each other dignity, and it is when we give each other dignity that we will ensure a durable and long lasting peace globally"
Several speakers during these sessions articulated the comprehensive, reconciliation, rehabilitation, reintegration and reconstruction programme that has taken place since May 2009. 297,000 people were rescued in probably the world’s greatest hostage rescue operation, and those internally displaced people have now been found their homes.
In May 2009, there were approximately 1.5 million mines and Unexploded Ordnances and the majority of the areas have been demined leaving only an area of 86sq km; 12,600 LTTE cadres have been rehabilitated; and the 594 child soldiers have been returned to their families; the A9 was reopened; and there is a multimillion dollar programme under the Northern and Eastern Revival, in terms of infrastructure development ; the trilingual policy is being implemented islandwide, and people of all ethnicities are being absorbed into the police and civil administrative services. Most importantly, we have had Northern provincial elections, and finally after three decades the people of the North have been able to exercise their suffrage.
The Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris, in his address, gave a very comprehensive overview of the very pragmatic measures taken to achieve social and economic equity. He also articulated very clearly, the imperative of not internationalising domestic issues.
Lalith Weeratunga, the Secretary to the President, traced the nexus between Peace and Development, and the contribution of the LLRC towards building a positive peace. He also spoke from a very human perspective about building social capital and trust, which goes beyond monetary value.
The Speakers on the first day, Senior Minister Dr. Amunugama and the Governor of the Central Bank, Nivard Cabraal both spoke about the extremely conducive macroeconomic environment that we have today. We have had over 7% year on year GDP Growth rate, single digit inflation, single digit interest rates, we are narrowing the fiscal deficit, and we have historically high external reserves of over nine billion dollars. The recent sovereign bond was issued at a relatively low coupon rate for frontier markets of 5.125%, was several times oversubscribed, which is an independent and surrogate marker of confidence in the contemporary Sri Lankan narrative.
But what is of real importance is the fact that our regional growth, as articulated by many of our speakers, was over 25%, in both the previously conflict affected areas of the North and East. That demonstrates our commitment to build a truly pluralistic and inclusive society, so all communities can reap the dividends of peace and economic growth. This is very much in consonance with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ policy, of bridging the urban-rural divide, and achieving a pro-poor growth, and growth with equity.
Prof. Pieris also articulated that it was the same theme chosen for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which we were delighted to host last year. The theme was ‘Growth with Equity: Inclusive Development’ to demonstrate that all of us in developing countries, and particularly in post-conflict developing countries, should all reap the dividends of growth.
The President, assumed the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth, which brings a sense of enormous pride to all of us. I remember that a few years ago, when I commenced my tenure in London, there was a very strong and very well-funded lobby to prevent Sri Lanka from hosting CHOGM, and it was an enormously difficult task to change ingrained opinion which had been built up over decades.
At the time I was Chairing the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which comprises over 50 of the London based Commonwealth High Commissioners. And I realised that by persistent dialogue and articulation, and separation of fact from fiction, eventually the majority of Commonwealth countries understood that we all have similar histories, we all suffer from the legacy of colonisation, and we are all at different stages of development, and it is that depth and breadth of understanding that we need from everyone, and that is something that we should all move towards.
We were delighted that the CHOGM was held in Sri Lanka, and rightfully so, because many people don’t know that we were one of the eight founder member Nations of the modern Commonwealth, if one goes back to the London Declaration of 1949; and in fact we achieved universal suffrage 17 years prior to Independence in 1931, and we had the world’s first female Prime Minister, so we can also say a few things about gender parity and democracy to the world.
Also, we have always subscribed to the twin pillars of democracy and development, and we subscribe to the principles of the Singapore Declaration 1971; the Harare Declaration of 1991; the Munyonyo Statement on Respect and Understanding, and the principles enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter.
The significance of hosting the CHOGM in Sri Lanka, was that it was a great index of confidence in Sri Lanka today, and it also enabled Sri Lanka to further strengthen bilateral relationships particularly with other Commonwealth countries and enhance South-South collaboration.
The delegates who visited said they were pleasantly surprised at the peace, and the positive peace, prevalent in Sri Lanka. And also the beauty and transformation of Colombo, and many people expressed this when they were here and they continue to articulate this when I am back in London, and they all say it is so different from the very negative, anachronistic picture that is constantly being spread by those demagogues of division, who simply fan the flames of hatred.
They are very well funded – this very small rump of the diaspora – and I don’t demonise the diaspora – the majority of over 95% are decent, educated, sensible people. It is only a very small group of people who used terrorism as a business, and it is they who are now out of a job. But they perpetuate it, because they still have access to that funding, and that funding is now being legitimised into other businesses. It is they who continue to spread this negative narrative, and continue to lobby even legislators, opinion leaders, and think-tanks, and that is quite a challenge to address.
National security and Sri Lanka’s geostrategic location
I mentioned at the outset that our two greatest strengths were our people and our geostrategic location because Sri Lanka lies at the nexus of the maritime routes between the East and the West, and that is historically why Sri Lanka is such a multi-ethnic, culturally diverse and heterogeneous community.
Major. Gen. Perera outlined the concept of the land force doctrine that transforms a component of the Military from security related duties to those of development and nation building. He outlined the complex interplay and the multiplicity of actors, both domestic and international, in the post conflict environment.
Major Gen. Perera, Rear Admiral Gunawardena and Air Vice Marshal Jayampathy, in their extremely clear and focused presentations articulated the value of the geostrategic importance of Sri Lanka and the interplay between the superpowers, USA, India and China within the Indian Ocean region.
The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean in the world, and comprises 38 littoral states, 24 ocean territories and 17 landlocked countries, and 50% of the world’s containerised cargo and two thirds of the world’s oil shipments, traverse the Indian Ocean Region. So its sea lines of communication are critical globally for trade security and energy security. The Indian Ocean is home to one of the most important sea lanes in the world, and overall more than 80% of the world’s seaborne trade passes through these Indian Ocean choke points, such as the Straits of Hormuz, Straits of Malacca, and the Sunda Straits. Therefore, in a world of maritime geopolitics, Sri Lanka, having achieved peace, has assumed great strategic significance and can play a key role globally and within the Maritime Silk Route, particularly enhanced by the shift in economic power to Asia.
From a US perspective, after 9/11, and after the US invasion of Afghanistan, and subsequently Iraq, its port of Diego Garcia has enormously increased the strategic significance of the Indian Ocean Region to the US. Even after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the region will still attract the attention of the US, to ensure the flow of energy supplies across the region’s Sea Lines of Communication and through its choke points.
If one looks historically at Trincomalee, it is the third largest natural harbour in the world, and it was described by Nelson as the finest natural harbour in the world, and by Churchill as the most strategic. In fact Trincomalee housed the British seventh fleet during World War two, and was invaluable after they lost Singapore to the Japanese in 1942, and they used it to exercise some degree of control over their Empire in India. In addition, I am told, that in this age of nuclear weaponry and nuclear submarine-based missile systems, the depth of its inner harbour has assumed increased strategic significance. In fact, the oldest frigate used by Admiral Nelson still in water today, albeit in a museum in Britain, is called HMS Trincomalee, and there is even an HMS Trincomalee fan club.
If one looks at the Hambantota port today, it is located just 12 nautical miles of the world’s busiest shipping lane, with over 100 ships passing Sri Lanka daily, and has the potential to make Sri Lanka one of the pre-eminent shipping hubs, and fulfil part of our five-hub strategy.
Air Vice Marshal Jayampathi also mentioned the aviation perspective, and that we are just 4 hours away from the Far East, and MRIA, Mattala will help to create the five-hub concept. In fact we are just four hours away from Singapore, KL, Bangkok, Delhi, Doha, and Dubai. That is the value of Sri Lanka.
In view of our geostrategic location, our speakers on Day two also emphasised the importance of regional cooperation and regional integration, and having a collaborative maritime and aviation diplomacy, harnessing our shared maritime domain expertise. We were reminded that ‘Whoever controls the Indian Ocean dominates Asia’ and of the interplay between China, India and the USA, for primacy in the Indian Ocean. In this context, Sri Lanka’s geostrategic position is pivotal.
I feel it is the same geographical location that attracted the interest of the colonisers several hundred years ago. When the Portuguese were trying to wrest control of the Spice routes from the Venetians and the Ottomans, they were the first to navigate the Cape of Good Hope, and they colonised us in 1505; they were in turn replaced by the might of the Dutch East India Company in 1656; and subsequently, when the British were fighting the French in the Napoleonic wars, they also took over the Dutch colonies and colonised us from 1815 to 1948.
I should also touch on the one of the factors that people often don’t mention that lead to ethnic conflict in several of our countries and that is the “divide and rule” policy that has always been carried out by colonisers. Many people talk about recent factors in the last century, but I think rather than being preached to from abroad, we ourselves need to let people know that it is often the “divide and rule” policy of Imperialist powers that sowed the seeds for a lot of the ethnic strife that is going on globally today.
Because what they did in the “divide and rule” policy is that they heightened differences, they artificially compartmentalised people, and people actually lost their national identity, and subsequently when we moved to independence, and the transition was usually very swift, we inherited economies that were struggling post-colonisation, with substantial urban-rural economic divides, and we had that perennial search for a national identity, and that was compounded by the very nationalist assertion post-independence. And it is the combination of all these factors together, namely the “divide and rule” policy, the urban-rural economic divide post-colonisation, and the loss of an unifying National identity, that were ethicised and politicised by successive generations, and those are some of the factors that have led to the issues that a lot of our countries suffer from today.
The imperative therefore is to understand the context of the colonial legacy; to address the urban-rural economic divide which we are addressing; and to forge a common Sri Lankan national identity which we are embarked on, to unify all our people in the post-conflict era and transcend these differences.
If I could just touch on a few of the points specifically mentioned by our international speakers.
Regional challenges
India: Our speaker from India, Suba Chandran also highlighted the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean Region, and he also spoke about achieving a positive peace after the end of violence, and the imperative of managing expectations.
Pakistan: Our speaker from Pakistan, Ambassador Arif Ayub spoke about the clear shift of power towards Asia; the imperative of furthering regional cooperation; and the need for Geo-economics to surpass geopolitical rivalries. He also spoke of Sino-Pakistan cooperation in expansion of the Karakoram highway, and the involvement therefore of the new Maritime Silk Route, by linking the ports of Gwadar to the Port of Karachi.
Afghanistan: Dr. Safi, the speaker from Afghanistan also told us of their issues of being of strategic significance as the hub of Central Asia. They have a tremendous amount of mineral wealth and they are at the midst of the oil supply pipelines in Central Asia. She too highlighted the difficulties they have faced when their domestic issues were internationalised.
Global challenges
Indonesia: During our regional discussions, Dr. Bandoro from Indonesia spoke about the potential value and rationale of engagement with ASEAN.
Poland and the EU: Dr. Patryk Kugiel, from Poland, gave an EU Perspective and outlined EU concerns on human rights and the asymmetrical trade relationship, and their declining EU aid. He gave a few possible scenarios which were rather pessimistic, but Dr. Kugiel also made some interesting points about a potential alternative strategy.
And I quote from what he said about the alternative strategy, which included the following:
He said: “Be modest: European states can show more modesty and understanding in its assessment of Sri Lanka’s civil war as its own experiences of interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq exposed to them to the many challenges of the counter-terrorism operations.”
He said: “Be consistent: The EU should be ready to address the accusations of double standards and hypocrisy in foreign relations and reassure its policy on Sri Lanka is not very different from its assessment of other conflicts.”
He said: “Be patient”. Give us the time and the space as you have given any post-conflict country. Are we not deserving of that? Particularly in comparison to peer countries we have done substantially better than the majority of those who have suffered a conflict like this.
He said: “Be open: Europe needs to continue dialogue with Sri Lankan partners at every possible level.”
He said: “Be supportive. Offer more carrots and less sticks and support Sri Lankan-led and Sri Lankan-owned reconciliation processes.”
He said: “Be partners: Because we have the same aim of having a pluralistic and inclusive society with a sustainable peace.”
And I thought that was an interesting strategy because if people adopt that approach, particularly those who seek to internationalise what is a domestic issue, and seek to abrogate our territorial integrity and our sovereignty, I think if people actually use those comments, and put it into practice, then most of their concerns would disappear.
African nations
Our colleague from Tanzania, Dr Luoga, spoke of the problems in the African subcontinent, in the perennial post-colonial search for identity. Only two countries of the entire African subcontinent have not been colonised, Liberia and Ethiopia, and he said so many are struggling, and Tanzania itself struggles with so many issues of Identity, and he said what saw them through was their constant emphasis on unity and unifying all the different people.
It also reminded me when we had our speaker from Africa, about the struggle against apartheid, and Nelson Mandela. I remember when I was involved with the Royal Commonwealth Society, in my younger days many years ago, as a young activist campaigning for Mandela’s release from prison, there used to be a flame outside the South African High Commission in London, during the time Mandela was in prison, and all of us used to go as students and stand outside and have a vigil, and I remember joining that vigil. And when Mandela was released in 1990 and he subsequently came to London, he gave his first press conference in London at our Society. And what really struck me about Mandela, was not simply that he was successful in defeating Apartheid, but that after 27 years in captivity he forgave his captors, and I think he was really the personification of equanimity.
And from the South African trauma came the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and we have a very comprehensive Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, which was based on the TRC of South Africa. Our LLRC, which many people criticised before it was launched, I know I used to get constant criticism, people said “High Commissioner this is going to be edited; it will be biased; it won’t be critical; it will be a whitewash,” but when it was published, and I remember it was presented to Sri Lankan Parliament on Friday 16 December, and I remember presenting it in British Parliament the following Tuesday, people were quite impressed by it.
It was not only released, but released in full and unedited. And it was a very comprehensive, impartial, critical, report of over 380 pages. It was set within the principle of International Humanitarian Law, incorporating the Principle of Distinction and the Principle of Proportionality. It had over 1,000 oral submissions and over 5,000 written submissions. And a substantial part of the LLRC is currently being implemented. I know there is more to be implemented, but if you compare our reconciliation process and the LLRC process to many other countries which have had similar processes, we have actually done substantially better.
And I think it is so important when people seek to criticise, that they actually compare us to themselves and their processes, and also to peer countries. And when people ask for accountability, the LLRC was based on the principle of restorative justice not punitive justice, where people have forgiveness, and that encourages them to discuss the trauma of conflict, and it actually helps to heal the wounds of conflict. And we have the National Plan of Action for the implementation of the LLRC recommendations.
There was another excellent exposition of the challenges that many of the western countries are facing with the diaspora, by Ravinath Ariyasinghe, who very clearly articulated that even though terrorism may have finished, and the physical war has finished here, the International war still continues.
And I think it is so important that we address it with the same focus, and the same strategy, that you all have done for the physical war. That is very important because the war that is being fought, and I’ve said it previously in an interview, I’ve said “proxy propaganda war” – but I chose my words very carefully. It is a war. I don’t think it can be laughed off in terms of “lack of communication” or “lack of marketing”. It is literally a war, because the funds used by the rump of the LTTE to procure arms are now being diverted to fight this propaganda war, and I think it’s important that we understand the seriousness and gravity of that, and the resources therefore and strategy that needs to be put in to combat it, because it uses social media and other media, and an enormous network of international money laundering and financial transactions. It is used, as I said earlier, to prey on opinion leaders and it influences people, particularly where there is a very narrow margin in terms of votes, so it appeals to the domestic electoral compulsions of certain countries. It is essentially down to votes and funds, which we need to be aware of, when we are unduly criticised from certain sectors.
Prasad Kariyawasam, whilst Chairing the session on regional challenges, also articulated that many of the issues of ethnic conflict arose following colonisation.
Malaysia
Our speaker from Malaysia, Dr. Tang, spoke about their challenges in defining the State of Malaysia and their challenges of Nation building. He also mentioned the previous Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir’s ‘Look East’ policy, which took Malaysia from a per capita income of $ 450 to over $ 9,000 at the end of his tenure. When he came to Sri Lanka during the conflict, he was pessimistic about the potential for Sri Lanka, saying that Sri Lanka had neither peace nor political stability. Therefore, after the end of the conflict we invited him to visit Sri Lanka in 2010 via the Sri Lanka Malaysia Business Council, and at that point he was extremely positive, saying that Sri Lanka now had the two essential ingredients that were necessary for its ascendance – peace and political stability.
I had the challenging task of chairing that session with Dr. Mahathir and over 400 corporates, and there were some searching questions. Many asked what his political ideology was, to which he replied: “I am neither Capitalist nor Socialist, but a Pragmatist. I take what’s best from Capitalism that is appropriate for my country at that stage in its development, and reject the rest. I take what’s best from Socialism that is appropriate for my country at that stage in its development, and I reject the rest. I’m a Pragmatist, and if there’s something else useful and appropriate at a later stage in my country’s development, I’ll take that too.” So he was very practical and didn’t hold himself to any particular ideology.
He was also asked why he had a constant battle with the USA and whether he was anti-American. He said: “I was not against the USA, it was US foreign policy that was against me, but I created a conducive macroeconomic environment, and attracted US business leaders, and when US business leaders tasted the fruits of that business environment, they changed US foreign policy on my behalf.”
Singapore
We had an interesting talk on the four pillars of governance from our speaker, Dr Yeo, from Singapore, who also spoke about how impressed she was with Sri Lanka’s progress in the post-conflict era.
China
Our colleague from China, Dr. Wong, highlighted the longstanding Sino-Sri Lankan relationship from the visit of the monk and scholar Fa Hsien, and Zeng He, so many centuries ago. He mentioned the value to China of the historic rubber-rice pact of 1952, a bold initiative taken by Sri Lanka in signing that barter agreement. He said that this relationship and cooperation has strengthened significantly under President Mahinda Rajapaksa since 2005, and China increased it to a strategic partnership level in 2013, and the forthcoming China-Sri Lanka FTA, and China’s Maritime Silk Route, will strengthen it further.
India
In our final discussions on regional issues, we had an articulation of India’s current policy by Dr. Subramaniam Swamy. He stated that this was a distinctive new Party under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that he was committed to improving India’s relations with Sri Lanka, and his intention was to harmonise national progress with spiritual advancement.
I remember the time a few years ago, prior to my becoming High Commissioner, I had the enormous privilege of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was at the time Chief Minister of Gujarat, and I was part of a Commonwealth delegation to Gujarat, and I had an interesting discussion with Prime Minister Modi, and learning of his vision and razor-sharp focus on building a strong and resurgent India, I had no doubt that one day he would be the leader of India, and I had no doubt that he would maximise the true potential of the world’s largest democracy.
Dr. Swamy also articulated that their foreign policy would be based entirely on national interests and not on narrow regional or local considerations. He stated that the UN enforcement and pressure on Sri Lanka was unbalanced and intrusive and that they would not accept it. He also said that the new pole and the centre of the world was Asia, and that they would not accept any group placing international interests above national interests.
Dr. Asanga Abeygoonesekera, speaking about regional security, highlighted the many challenges of combating terrorism and security, and the opportunities thereof for collaboration.
Conclusion
Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I return to the first point I made. I said initially that the strength of Sri Lanka is our people and our geostrategic location. The final point I’d like to make about our people, and also for the countries who are present here today, is that most of us have a tremendous diversity of our people, of ethnic backgrounds and religions, and rather than fearing them, I think we should all realise that this is the true wealth of our countries. The wealth of our countries is the diversity of our people, and it is up to all of us, domestically and regionally, to leverage on that diversity. But in order to do that, we have to respect each other with our differences, because I believe that it is when we respect each other’s diversity, that we give each other dignity, and it is when we give each other dignity that we will ensure a durable and long lasting peace globally.
And it is in that spirit of respect and understanding that we are moving forward in Sri Lanka’s ascendance, with an emphasis on forging a common national identity. I don’t call myself Sinhalese or Tamil or Muslim or Burgher, I am Sri Lankan, and I am proud to be Sri Lankan, and that is my identity.
And I think that this Defence Seminar, in addition to sharing expertise and experiences , has also certainly opened my eyes , and I’m sure it has given all of you an idea of the tremendous opportunities we have, to collaborate and to be partners together. What is obvious is that we all share similar experiences and I think this Defence Seminar has been enormously enriching and also given us ideas as to how we can collaborate, both domestically and regionally.
Because, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that this is Asia’s century, and we invite you all to join us in our endeavour of achieving Sri Lanka’s renaissance.
I thank you.
