Management of our foreign relations

Late- Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar - File Image

by K Godage

(March 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Recent days has seen much debate over an insidious attempt to ruin our diplomatic service by appointing a chosen few directly into the service with rumours afloat that certain elements are seeking to amalgamate the Foreign Service with the SLAS. This whole issue comes from a lack of understanding of what diplomacy is about and also from envy believing the work of a diplomat can be done by anyone - as I have stated earlier dressing a man in a kalu coat and sending him to Hultsdorf.

The professional diplomacy is the conduct of our relations with foreign countries, international organizations, other international institutions, regional organizations, business corporations etc. Today, besides bilateral diplomacy there is the emergence of multilateral diplomacy which is another specialized field.

The expansion, scope and substance of diplomacy has enlarged to such an extent that it is most complex and challenging. The mind boggling advancement of communication technology only makes the task at hand of a diplomat most demanding. Besides international political relations, one would need to follow the international economic situation, the monetary and financial developments, promote educational and cultural exchanges, scientific and technological cooperation, promote trade, investment and tourism and above all, in our situation, keep a tab on the activities of the new LTTE abroad and report on matters relating to national security.

Conventional diplomacy is today a thing of the past and the wide range of activities (the expansion is both qualitative and quantitative) of a State, calls for specialization and training. Training is an absolute imperative. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this business any more.

It is with more than a measure of regret that I state that the present administration does not appear to have an understanding of the work involved to protect and advance our national interests and the fact that not any Haramanis or Juwanis or any Tom, Dick or Harry, whatever maybe their qualifications in other fields, could accomplish the task at hand.

There seems to be a perception that dealing with the Sri Lankan Diaspora and Sri Lankan expatriates working abroad are the principal tasks of a Sri Lankan head of mission. Sending untrained clueless people to promote the interests of this country is a crime against the State and the people of this country for we do not owe them a living. If the exigencies of service require that we recruit temporarily persons with an abiding interest in international affairs, (until permanent cadre are fully trained) the government should advertise and recruit from the AG’s department which has excellent material, from  the SLAS and the private sector.

Recruitment from the private sector is particularly important for the promotion of trade, investment and tourism. It is no secret that government service is no longer the attraction it was before 1978; it is only the ‘leftovers’ that join the public service today for the opportunities outside in the private sector are incomparable. The private sector has in its ranks many who would do the country proud.

Let us pause to reflect on our record in the sphere of international relations. Sri Lanka was once a respected country in the community of nations. We presided over the Non Aligned Movement, at the UN Sri Lanka presided over many committees and conferences including the prestigious Law of the Sea Conference. Ambassador Shirley Amerasinghe was also elected to chair the UNGA in 1975.

Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala presided successfully over the prestigious Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 1995 which the Americans described as the "most important conference of the century.’ He has since been elected the president of the renowned Pugwash Conference, the only non-scientist to have been so honoured.

Dr. Rohan Perera is the chairman of the continuing UN Conference on Terrorism, Dr. Christopher Weeramantry was on the World Court and may even have headed it but for his own country letting him down. Dr Chris Pinto is presently Secretary of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and an internationally respected authority on the Law of the Sea. These are just a few Lankans who have shone in international relations.

Sri Lanka also hosted the Non Aligned Summit in 1976 in recognition of the success of our Non-Aligned Foreign policy during the period of the Cold War. Previously Sir John Kotelawala hosted the Colombo powers Conference which was the precursor to the Bandung Summit. Post 1978 our stock was on the decline but never were we the subject of ridicule. During the period of President. Kumaratunge, we raised our stock again thanks particularly to Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

As stated earlier, those in charge of our foreign policy today do not seem to be managing our affairs with the sophistication such an important mater deserves., Suffice it to say that a country’s foreign policy is entirely based on the perception of what its national interests are at a particular point of time and on how they could best be secured. Further, diplomacy is a discreet business with a lot of backroom activity.

Indulging in vitriolic attacks on those who have been critical of us has resulted in our making enemies of friends on the international circuit and being isolated and the image of our country suffering serious damage.

I do hope that the management of our foreign relations is left to trained professionals and not to friends, relations and absolute neophytes.