Sri Lanka no longer a pariah state: Mangala

• Foreign Minister says Lanka was ‘international outcast’ during Rajapaksa tenure
• Says there have been notable foreign policy successes in the past year
• Ensured strong and deep relationships with ALL countries

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera, who addressed Parliament during the vote on the Foreign Ministry, says the new administration has achieved major foreign policy successes in its first year in office. The Minister said Sri Lanka had started rebuilding relationships with all its friends and allies in the international community, after the former administration had ensured the country’s foreign relations was at its lowest point since independence.

When this Government was elected in January 2015, our relations with our neighbours and the rest of the world were at their worst point since Independence over half a century ago. Sri Lanka was an international outcast. Relations with key allies were strained and our diplomatic service had been run to the ground. We had lost our credibility and the world’s respect.

In fact, since 2010, every March the then Government faced ever-greater annual censure at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The previous Government also embarked on the risky and hazardous course of cultivating one set of friends at the expense of many other traditional friends. Relations with important partners – including India, the US and EU – were strained.

These policy choices had real costs. GSP+, which had helped create tens of thousands of jobs and help maintain the competitiveness of our apparel industry and other industries, was withdrawn. And instead of working with these countries to restore these facilities for the benefit of our people and our nation’s economic benefit, it was decided, without consulting the public, that these facilities are not required! Fish exports to the EU, our largest fisheries export market, were banned because we had violated basic norms of high seas fishing. The prospect of economic sanctions loomed over us.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera

But over the last year, the Government replaced this self-defeating foreign policy that lined the pockets of the few, with a foreign policy based on the principles of good governance that serves the interests of all Sri Lankans. We have put in place a clear, stable and results based foreign policy that provides tangible benefits to all our citizens. Already in the last year there have been some notable successes.

First, following the consensus-resolution at the Human Rights Council in Geneva this September, Sri Lanka is no longer a pariah state – we are regaining our place as a respected and principled member of the international community and the community of democratic nations. As the cabinet-ranking US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, put it and I quote “I can’t think of another country in the entire world where you have seen such change in such a short period of time,” unquote.

Second, we have ensured that we have strong and deep relations with ALL our friends and allies in the international community – and that no one relationship is at the expense of another. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe have visited India, the United States, China, Japan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, France, Thailand and Singapore. We have received the Prime Minister of India (the first bilateral visit in 28 years), the US Secretary of State (the first official visit in 43 years), the German Foreign Minister, the Singaporean Foreign Minister, the Qatari and UAE Foreign Ministers, the Swiss Foreign Minister and many, many other foreign dignitaries. These visits have laid the groundwork for economic, cultural and political cooperation that will provide tangible results in the form of trade agreements, investment, technology transfer and development assistance in the coming years.

Third, we are beginning the process of re-establishing links with the many Sri Lankans overseas who had lost faith in Sri Lanka. We have restarted the engagement with the Diaspora that was started soon after the end of armed conflict by former President Rajapaksa. Many individuals and organisations who did not have confidence, are now inspired to make a genuine and positive contribution to Sri Lanka’s reconciliation and development journey. My colleagues and I have had meetings with leaders in the Overseas Sri Lankan community – which consist of many eminent doctors, statesman, businessmen, lawyers, musicians, writers and even chefs. There is an overwhelmingly positive response and we hope to take concrete measures to transform that goodwill into tangible contributions towards reconciliation and development over the coming year.

"“Under the previous Government, incompetent cronies were appointed to key missions, which were in turn made offices for their private businesses and even their criminal enterprises. In fact, in the Washington DC embassy over 330, 000 US dollars was missing in one property transaction. From the Foreign Ministry expenses alone over 339 million rupees were wasted on 5 lobbying firms between 2009 and 2014 that produced no results, while many of our capable diplomats were kept idle for political reasons. Many other payments were also made through the Presidential Secretariat and Central Bank. The Foreign Ministry also became a site of political patronage – the Former Monitoring MP cronies’ children, the CHOGM babes and boys, were appointed to Foreign Ministry positions without proper procedure”

In addition to putting the right policies in place, we are also striving to ensure that our country’s foreign affairs are managed professionally - with integrity and accountability.

Under the previous Government, incompetent cronies were appointed to key missions, which were in turn made offices for their private businesses and even their criminal enterprises. In fact, in the Washington DC embassy over 330, 000 US dollars was missing in one property transaction. From the Foreign Ministry expenses alone over 339 million rupees were wasted on 5 lobbying firms between 2009 and 2014 that produced no results, while many of our capable diplomats were kept idle for political reasons. Many other payments were also made through the Presidential Secretariat and Central Bank. The Foreign Ministry also became a site of political patronage – the Former Monitoring MP cronies’ children, the CHOGM babes and boys, were appointed to Foreign Ministry positions without proper procedure. They were paid through the Kadirgamar Institute of which former Foreign Minister was Chairman of the Board. Millions of rupees were wasted, mainly through the Foreign Minister’s vote, on extravagances – including adult films, $200 shots of cognac and $288 steaks.

We have reversed this trend and are in the process of creating a professional, empowered and accountable foreign service. Career diplomats have been appointed to missions where possible. However, due to many years of neglect and failure to recruit there are insufficient numbers of staff to fill ambassadorial positions. And at any given time, a sufficient number of senior-level Foreign Service Officers are required to serve in the Ministry in Colombo which is the nerve centre that manages our Foreign Affairs and works closely with the line ministries and foreign missions represented in Colombo. Therefore, we have been compelled to appoint a number of professionals and academics to positions abroad. Yet, despite these constraints I am pleased to announce that within a year we have doubled the proportion of career diplomats posted as ambassadors from a third to nearly two- third and reduced the number of non-career diplomats from two- third to just over a third.

"“We have reversed this trend and are in the process of creating a professional, empowered and accountable foreign service. Career diplomats have been appointed to missions where possible. However, due to many years of neglect and failure to recruit there are insufficient numbers of staff to fill ambassadorial positions. And at any given time, a sufficient number of senior-level Foreign Service Officers are required to serve in the Ministry in Colombo which is the nerve centre that manages our Foreign Affairs and works closely with the line ministries and foreign missions represented in Colombo. Therefore, we have been compelled to appoint a number of professionals and academics to positions abroad. Yet, despite these constraints I am pleased to announce that within a year we have doubled the proportion of career diplomats posted as ambassadors from a third to nearly two- third and reduced the number of non-career diplomats from two- third to just over a third”

We are also undertaking the short-term and long-term restructuring of the foreign ministry. In the short-term we intend to cut costs and focus our resources by closing down missions abroad for which no clear rationale exists. We also intend to introduce Non-Resident Ambassadors to further cut-costs and to establish a presence where a full-scale embassy cannot be justified but where Sri Lanka’s interests need to be furthered. Perhaps most importantly, we intend to create the necessary systems and policies to ensure that our diplomatic service is able to perform at the highest levels of excellence. This also means creating systems to take punitive measures where required for wrong-doing and sub-standard work, in order to ensure that the reputation of vast majority of conscientious and ethical officers is preserved. To this end, we are in the process of re-introducing the system of inspectors-general who will visit our missions abroad and report on compliance and performance.

Allow me to conclude by saying that we will not rest on the laurels of the past year. Over the next year we will work very hard to ensure that the world’s tremendous goodwill is transformed into tangible benefits for Sri Lanka’s people and that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and management of foreign affairs is placed on meritocratic and professional foundations.