Sri Lanka’s policy of neutrality in the ongoing Middle East conflict reflects both principle and pragmatism, while positioning the country to play a wider diplomatic role, the Asian Geopolitics Sustainability and Peace Council has said in a statement.
In the statement signed by Prof Mohan Munasinghe and Sugiswara Senadheera, the Council noted that Sri Lanka has maintained a firm stance of non-alignment, refusing to allow its territory to be used against any state while continuing to meet humanitarian obligations. It cited an instance in which Sri Lanka declined a request from the United States to provide refuelling access for warplanes.
Full text of the statement: Sri Lanka is maintaining strict neutrality in the middle east conflict, while preventing its territory from being used against any other state, and fulfilling humanitarian obligations. When one of the belligerents, the US, requested refueling rights for its warplanes, Sri Lanka refused. When an Iranian vessel was sunk within our maritime economic zone, it was the small Sri Lankan navy which rescued a large number of sailors and brought them for treatment in our hospitals. This is not a passive stance; it is both principled and pragmatic, while building the foundation for further potential diplomatic initiatives
Sri Lanka’s demonstrated neutrality presents an opportunity. Instead of being merely a bystander to great power rivalry, Sri Lanka could revive its historic diplomatic tradition and help mobilise a coalition of neutral nations from the Global South to push for peace.
The vast majority of the global population are peace-loving and aghast at the devastation of the economic and sociopolitical fabric in the Middle East due to the conflict, as well as its destructive impact on the economies of the Global South. Neutrality should not mean silence. Historically, many useful peace initiatives have come from smaller countries that were not directly involved in wars.
Norway facilitated peace talks in Colombia and the Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka. Qatar has mediated several regional conflicts. Switzerland has long hosted negotiations between hostile states.
Sri Lanka, too, has been a leading voice of moderation at world forums. In 1951, Finance Minister J R Jayewardene’s San Francisco speech quoted from Buddhist scriptures (“hatred begets hatred; only through loving kindness will it cease”), and persuaded world leaders to soften their reparation demands on Japan after World War II. In 1952, the pro-western UNP government, bravely defied the USA to sign the rubber-rice pact with the newly established communist Chinese government. We have benefited greatly from both initiatives ever since, because both China and Japan have been steadfast friends who have supported our development efforts for over seven decades.
It was Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike who proposed the Indian Ocean Peace Zone resolution which was passed unanimously at the United Nations. She also presided over the 1976 NAM summit attended by 86 heads of state in Colombo, which envisaged a world where smaller nations could avoid being dragged into superpower rivalries. Sri Lankan UN Envoy
Shirley Amarasinghe also played a laudable role in getting the support of powerful nations to establish the UN Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) – a point which was stressed by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath at the recent AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
If the ongoing middle-east war spreads, the consequences will be dire. First, it will exacerbate the looming global recession — Sri Lanka and other neutral countries are already feeling the consequences of the effective closure of the Straits of Hormuz. Second, further escalation beyond the war crimes and genocide already underway, will greatly increase the risk of nuclear World War 3 – a truly human extinction event, to be avoided at all costs. Experts feel that we are closer to such a catastrophe, than ever before in human history, especially since prior nuclear arms limitation treaties have lapsed.
These grim realities give all affected countries a strong incentive and the moral authority to advocate immediate de-escalation. Sri Lanka could play a key role, by urging the global south, together with neutral and nonaligned nations that have no direct military stake in the conflict, to call for a lasting cessation of hostilities that goes beyond the current temporary ceasefire and ends this dangerous and destructive war. Individual nations cannot force the warring powers to negotiate. But collectively we carry weight, representing the voice of the Global South comprising over 85% of the global population, who are suffering the economic and humanitarian consequences of great-power rivalries.
from The Island https://ift.tt/lCf3LUs
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