Under President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership it looks like Sri Lanka is once again punching above its weight. The president took centre stage at the 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the 3rd South Summit of the Group of 77 & China currently taking place in Kampala, Uganda. The president’s media unit stated that at the invitation of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Wickremesinghe not only participated in these critical global gatherings but also addressed both the NAM Summit and the South Summit. During his visit to Kampala, he is reported to have engaged in discussions with counterparts from the Global South, with a special focus on strengthening ties with leaders from the African region.
The photograph of the Non-Aligned Movement’s 120 leaders showed the Sri Lankan president in the front row right next to the conference host President Museveni of Uganda. The last time Sri Lanka took the centre stage in this manner was when Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike hosted the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Colombo in 1976 which was one of the most important gatherings as it tilted the developing countries towards making greater demands for international economic justice. At that time, Sri Lanka was itself an economic trendsetter in the international arena, as it demonstrated the possibility of development with equity. Sri Lanka had a physical quality of life index that surpassed many other countries with higher per capita incomes.
At the summit, President Wickremesinghe delivered a speech that would be a trendsetter and obtain for him the respect of world leaders gathered there. In his speech, the Sri Lankan president dealt boldly with two central issues of concern to the developing countries. He took on the issue of the war in Gaza and the continued domination of the global South by the global North. He pointed to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and with his own experiences of coping with ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, he said “in line with multiple UN Resolutions, and the Declaration of this Summit, the international community must recognise the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as territories coming within the State of Palestine and in addition there should be no change in the ethnic composition of Gaza.”
Calibrated Approach
The president’s words would do much to assuage Muslim sentiment, both in Sri Lanka and internationally in the aftermath of the president’s controversial decision to send Sri Lankan naval warships into the Red Sea to join the international naval force led by the United States. The president’s decision to send Sri Lankan navy ships thousands of miles away to protect the freedom of the seas led to all the middle eastern ambassadors in Sri Lanka having a meeting with him. There have also been expressions of concern that the high cost of the operation is unaffordable to a country in which more than a quarter of the population is below the poverty line. In addition, there is the element of disregard to the sentiments of the Muslim population in the country who are emotionally supportive of the Palestinian cause.
One of the president’s protégés, UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena has explained the rationale for the president’s numerous foreign visits as motivated by the desire to place the country’s interests first before the international community. There has been criticism that the president is spending too much money during a time when the country can ill-afford extra spending. The UNP chairman is reported to have said President Ranil Wickremesinghe has garnered global attention due to his efforts in steering the country from the brink of a crisis towards a path of development within a short span of…
Jehan Perera
