{"id":28280,"date":"2014-02-23T03:32:36","date_gmt":"2014-02-23T08:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=28280"},"modified":"2014-02-23T03:32:36","modified_gmt":"2014-02-23T08:32:36","slug":"sri-lankas-foreign-policy-strategy-cannot-win-internationally-because-it-is-dictated-by-the-defence-ministry-says-dr-dayan-jayatilleka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=28280","title":{"rendered":"“Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy Strategy Cannot win Internationally Because it is Dictated by the Defence Ministry” says Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka can\u2019t win in any international arena through a foreign policy strategy that is dictated by the Defence Ministry, a situation that would never have occured when the late Lakshman Kadirgamar was foreign minister, a former Sri Lanka diplomat and political scientist said.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLakshman Kadirgamar would never have allowed such a situation to happen,\u201d said Dayan Jayatillake speaking at a luncheon meeting of the exclusive Colombo Club at the Taj Samudra hotel on Tuesday. The topic of his presentation was \u201c\u201dThe forthcoming Geneva UNHRC session \u2013 the process to be followed, legal and economic implications for Sri Lanka.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dr. Jayatillake had two views on the issue; that the resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC session next month is unfair while on the other hand the Sri Lankan Government should never have allowed such a situation to arise. \u201cI occupy the middle ground. I believe the resolution is unfair, unhelpful and hypocritical. But I also believe the Government is incompetent and will face a negative outcome with serious consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the UN resolution (calling for an international inquiry into human rights violations) would trigger a new dynamics. \u201cIt is also unfair as there is no precedent in the world. No other country has faced such a resolution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the flip side however had everything remained as it is today and if Lakshman Kadirgamar was foreign minister (even with Mahinda Rajapaksa as President), this situation would not have arisen,\u201d said Dr. Jayatillake, who served as an ambassador in Geneva some years back and succeeded in winning support against a resolution against Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

He slammed the Foreign Ministry, its officials and advisors and said the country pathetic foreign policy was as a result of their (ministry) incompetence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany years ago the international affairs advisor to the President was Bradman Weerakoon (an accomplished civil servant) while today the President\u2019s advisor is Sajin Vass Gunawardene (who doesn\u2019t have any experience in international issues),\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n

Delving into more detail about the end of the war (few months before May 2009) and the issues that surrounded it, the former diplomat referred to a Wikileaks disclosure where a plan was drafted by the UK and US, with the understanding of the Sri Lankan Government, for US marines to be inducted to help evacuate civilians trapped in the war zone.<\/p>\n

He said, according to Wikileaks, the plan fell through because LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran refused to surrender to an outside force and also because the Government refused a proposal to evacuate some LTTE cadres.
\nWhile saying the international community was aware of these developments and that there was no deliberate targeting of civilians during the last stages of the conflict, he noted that the problem is that the Government made it possible for the situation to slide with negative actions and inaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a difficult situation,\u201d he said. In May 2009 too there was an attempt to institute a mechanism to probe war crimes but that failed with Sri Lanka securing 62 per cent of the vote. In less than five years, that support has dropped and last year Sri Lanka could muster only 12 votes, he said noting that the negative situation is one \u2018of our own making\u201d.<\/p>\n

Discussing what would happen if the resolution is passed, Dr. Jayatillake said most likely a special rapporteur would be appointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeneva should not be taken lightly,\u201d he said warning than an ever worse scenario is if an inquiry concludes that the outcome of the war (defeat of the LTTE) is illegal which then opens legal implications, not only for the country\u2019s leaders but also service commanders at that time.<\/p>\n

He believed that if the resolution is passed, the centre of Sri Lankan Tamil politics will (once again) shift overseas (to the Diaspora) from the north and the Tamil National Alliance<\/p>\n

But he also pointed out that Sri Lanka was no pushover and any international effort would be resisted. \u201cI see a very unhealthy situation happening domestically (after March),\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy, Sunday Times, Colombo)<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka can\u2019t win in any international arena through a foreign policy strategy that is dictated by the Defence Ministry, a situation that would never have occured when the late Lakshman Kadirgamar was foreign minister, a former Sri Lanka diplomat and political scientist said. \u201cLakshman Kadirgamar would never have allowed such a situation to happen,\u201d …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘“Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy Strategy Cannot win Internationally Because it is Dictated by the Defence Ministry” says Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28280"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28281,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28280\/revisions\/28281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}