Sri Lanka needs to better “manage” its bilateral relations with India and China and engage ex-LTTE combatants to join the workforce, an international terrorism expert said on Monday.
In respect of India and China, Sri Lanka will need to “manage the relationship very carefully,” Prof. Rohan Gunaratne, a Sri Lankan scholar based in Singapore, told the Business Times on the sidelines of his speech on “Global Terrorism – The Threat and the Response” organized by the Shippers’ Academy – Colombo held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).
He noted that no criticism must be made against the recently issued joint communiqué by Sri Lanka and India, following the high-level meeting between External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. While noting that India would indeed punish Sri Lanka should the latter “flirt with China,” he said it was important to maintain the close relationship with India without antagonizing her.
He pointed out that it was due to Sri Lanka’s insensitiveness to the geopolitical realities that the LTTE grew with the support of India. In this same light, it is imperative that Sri Lanka maintains good ties with India.
Prof. Gunaratna requested the private sector to recruit LTTE’s ex-combatants to join its workforce, with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Police, he said.
These youth are provided with spiritual, educational and vocational training as part of the rehabilitation process. At present about 30 LTTE cadres had attended school and entered university as well, he said adding that the “Sri Lankan government has given them a second life.” Further, he said the private sector needed to bring back the Sri Lankan diaspora noting economics can provide answers to political challenges. In this respect, it is believed the private sector should take the lead in bringing the parties together.
Prof. Gunaratna remained highly critical of the foreign service in the country, noting it is essential to send the best minds and not retirees or children of ministers to overseas missions. He also asserted the need to establish a public diplomacy capability and to engage NGOs through an advocacy unit. Speaking on the effects of terrorism on a global scale he observed it will remain and be a “dominant challenge” in the US, EU, Africa, and Asia. On the other hand, Prof. Gunaratna welcomed the Middle East developments as very good for the world as democracy is taking shape in that region.
He pointed out that this was a slow revolution but noted there would not be a western policy in the Middle East since today the US is different from the days of its former President George Bush.
Irrespective of the current developments in the wake of a UN panel report issued on the last stages of the war on terror in Sri Lanka, he noted the country will boom and become economically viable.
Going forward, he believed the government needed to engage the press and not simply wait until media organizations such as Channel 4 or the Times of London run a story.
Commenting on the Lessons Lerant and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), he observed there is a need now in the wake of the recent developments to revisit the commission’s mandate. He, however, pointed out one should not criticize the commission.
In addition, he observed the country needs to accommodate the other ethnic groups in key government institutions and ensure there improved ethnic tolerance.
Prof. Gunaratna called on the private sector to back these ideas and assist in the creation of a true Sri Lankan identity stating that even in companies it is essential to see a change in the top rung. |
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