Diplomatic hara-kiri

Retired Foreign Secretary

(October 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) So for a second time the British High Commission has refused visas to Palitha Kohona, our Permanent Representative to the UN and MP Arjuna Ranatunga. Visas ultimately will be granted no doubt; but the insult of a back handed slap to the powers that be, and thereby to the whole nation cannot be overlooked.

This government refused a visa to the Swedish Foreign Minister. A representative of the Canadian Government was turned away from the very airport given as an outright gift from that country. Pleasantries, manners and norms of diplomacy appear to have flown out of the window. Now the marching orders on UNICEF official James Elder as persona non grata will be the icing on the cake.

Never forget the old adage "Wheat eaters and meat eaters rule the world." Even in another millennium the great white and colored divide will remain. Barack Obama will never be the fusing factor; he is not the light at the end of the tunnel but a temporary spark on the world scene.

We — an insignificant sprat — a third world, underdeveloped nation tread on their toes, and will simply get crushed. Today, the whites may not be able to subjugate nations like China and India and a few other developed Asian nations, but little Sri Lanka will remain just another apple in the barrel for a long time more.

The LTTE may be a spent force in the island, but may not be internationally. They have their tentacles in every nook and corner of influential international lobbies and forums. The one billion odd dollars we begged from the IMF may be chicken feed, compared to what the LTTE has amassed over the years in hard currency.

A million or two in dollars to buy off any politician in the West or India will be peanuts for them. By huffing and puffing with paranoia, our leaders are just blindly walking into the trap the LTTE has very craftily laid. The theme should be subtlety and insidiousness.

Here the message is not to let a boy do a man’s job. Lakshman Kadirgamar carried an aura in his diplomatic handling which he did with finesse. He was an Oxford graduate, a learned man, and his death was a great loss to the nation. But today’s protocol in diplomacy has hit Point Nadir. It is truly a mind boggling situation.

-Sri Lanka Guardian