A foreign policy nightmare that haunts the President

Ironically on November 20, that is just two days before Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama put up his hand to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth and just six days before President Mahinda Rajapakse in defiance of gentle calls from the US, decided to wing it to Iran, Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Palitha Kohona was to send out a letter calling government ministers to a meeting on even date to discuss ‘strategy on foreign policy.’ Rohitha Bogollagama, Palitha Kohona and Anura Bandaranaike

by Sonali Samarasinghe

( December, 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) President Mahinda Rajapakse’s foreign policy is picaresque at best. Almost sycophantic in its adulation of failed states and indignant in its defiance of stable nations, the present regime also tends from time to time to inform its judgment on religious lines. This is despite the fact that except for a few nations including Sri Lanka most nations are secular in nature.

The confusion in its international strategy was best reflected in the fiasco that followed the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda last week with regard to Pakistan’s suspension from the Commonwealth. Later the government’s meaningless defiance was obvious as Rajapakse disregarded discreet messages from the US and flew to Iran directly from Kampala to meet both supreme religious leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali-Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

That despite the government media splashing banner headlines across its newspapers that Iran had given $1.5 billion aid to Sri Lanka, the reality on a careful reading of the joint statement demonstrates that the two day official visit boiled down to a general chat and an agreement to remain amicable.

Importantly it was Iran that had the better deal in the joint statement which stated that the NPT member states had an inalienable right to research, develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful means.

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