Khalifa Medal, an honour for all Sri Lankans

The King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa presented the prestigious Khalifa Medal, the highest honour in the Kingdom of Bahrain, to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a ceremony at the Al-Sakhir Palace last Monday.

The King of Bahrain said that the medal was presented in recognition of President Rajapaksa's efforts to take bilateral ties to a higher level of development.

This is not a singular honour for President Rajapaksa but for Sri Lanka and its people. The honour for the President reflects his illustrious leadership which has strengthened Sri Lanka's international relations, especially with the Arab world.

The Order of Al-Khalifa was founded in 1940 and revived in the 1970s. The medal honours the dedication of the late Amir Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa for humanitarianism. The medal has been presented only to a handful of notable world leaders including the King of Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Queen Elizabeth II, among others. In presenting the medal, Bahrain has saluted Sri Lanka's Head of State with a fitting and distinguished honour.

On receiving the medal, President Rajapaksa had said, "I am humbled and honoured". President Rajapaksa has time and again reiterated that Sri Lanka seeks to build an enhanced dynamic partnership with Bahrain. "The kind words, gracious hospitality and warm interactions will leave enduring and fond memories of this state visit, for me and my delegation, which undoubtedly will translate into active cooperation," the President was quoted as saying.

The President's recent visit to Bahrain has been highly successful - in that Sri Lanka and Bahrain signed three Memoranda of Understanding on sports, culture and arts and the University of Colombo and the University of Bahrain. These agreements aim to further strengthen the relations between the two countries.

The two leaders discussed a range of matters of mutual interest and the support for each other in the international arena. President Rajapaksa is a highly admired friend of the Arab world. Saudi Arabia is one of the friendly countries which voted against the US-led resolution at the UNHRC to support Sri Lanka.

In January this year, Palestine President Dr. Mahmoud Abbas conferred the prestigious Star of Palestine title on President Rajapaksa. The Star of Palestine is the highest honour the State of Palestine bestows on its citizens for bravery.

For President Rajapaksa, the Palestine cause had always been a priority in his, almost, entire political career. He had been a staunch advocate and activist committed to the Palestine cause since the 1970s as a young MP. The Palestinian struggle for statehood is the oldest political conflict in modern times.

President Rajapaksa was instrumental in setting up the Sri Lanka Solidarity Committee with Palestine in 1975. As a founder member of the solidarity committee, he headed the Movement since its inception four decades ago until he was elected Prime Minister in 2004. Nevertheless, he continued to be a vociferous advocate of their cause making it a priority to pledge solidarity and voice support. In 2007 the road in front of Sri Lanka's mission in Ramallah was named after President Rajapaksa in recognition of his support.

Apart from the Middle East, Sri Lanka has won many new friends around the world. Sri Lanka's fearless and farsighted foreign policy has attracted new friends to support the country against Western conspiracies. China and Russia had magnanimously supported Sri Lanka at the United Nations and other international fora. All these developments took a new turn after President Rajapaksa first assumed office in November 2005.

Vice Foreign Minister of China Liu Zhenmin who was in Colombo recently identified Sri Lanka as an 'all weather friend' of China, declaring that "Sri Lanka will always find a friend in China".

China has given a firm assurance that Beijing would continue to support Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and at the United Nations Security Council. Sri Lanka is ever grateful to China for the support extended in the past decades, especially in some landmark infrastructure projects.

China, another friendly country which voted against the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka in Geneva in March strongly defended Sri Lanka's sovereignty and national security. China also thanked the President for his personal interest in Sri Lanka-China bilateral relations and establishing close links with the Chinese leadership.

On the other hand, Russia has been a tower of strength for Sri Lanka to face Western-hatched conspiracies against Sri Lanka. A senior delegation of Russia's parliament, led by its Deputy Chairman and Vice-Speaker Sergey Zheleznjak met External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris earlier this year.

Sri Lanka's marked progress in all sectors with the dawn of peace and stability and the mega infrastructure development projects now being implemented were some of the main areas that were discussed.

The Russian Deputy Speaker said that his country would continue to assist Sri Lanka on the successful path it is traversing after achieving peace. He commended Sri Lanka for achieving outstanding economic growth and extended his greetings for the development drive launched in Sri Lanka.

Russia has said that all communities in Sri Lanka are reaping the benefits of the peaceful environment now prevailing after terrorism was eradicated. The Russian Deputy Speaker said that Russia would extend its support and further strengthen the friendly ties between the two countries. Thus, Russia has assured that its Government and Parliament would continue to pledge maximum support to Sri Lanka.

South Korea has also been impressed by Sri Lanka's progress after terrorism was defeated. The Special envoy and South Korea's former Foreign Affairs Minister Yu Myung-hwan has said that Sri Lanka had achieved tremendous progress with the dawn of peace.

At a recent meeting with President Rajapaksa, the South Korean special envoy had commended the integration of former LTTE cadres and the swift return of displaced persons. South Korea praised the Government for conducting the first ever election to the Northern Provincial Council in a free and fair manner.

President Rajapaksa's political sagacity has won Sri Lanka new friends the world over. When some powerful Western nations were reluctant to provide arms and ammunition for Sri Lanka's 2006-2009 battle against terrorism, it was the friendly countries which threw their full weight behind Sri Lanka and supported President Rajapaksa to the hilt.

Despite successive US-led resolutions at the UNHRC against Sri Lanka, a large number of US Senators called upon the US government and the international community to provide tangible assistance to Sri Lanka and its Government.

The group of Senators had also called upon the US to give due regard to Sri Lanka's sovereignty, stability and security, in establishing domestic mechanisms to deal with any grievances arising from actions committed during and after the battle against terrorism.

The US Senate resolution 364 which carried such a request was initially co-sponsored by 11 Senators of the US on February 27, 2014, and today six more Senators had supported the Resolution which also calls upon the US President Barack Obama to develop a comprehensive and well-balanced policy towards Sri Lanka.

The Resolution expresses support for Sri Lanka's internal reconciliation and acknowledges the significant overall progress after terrorism ended five years ago. The resolution particularly calls upon the US President not only to look into human rights interests in its dealings with Sri Lanka, but also consider the United States' economic and security interests in Sri Lanka.

More Senators are due to join as co-sponsors in the coming weeks, signifying unprecedented support for Sri Lanka's domestic mechanisms. This could be an eye-opener to the Western godfathers of human rights who point an accusing finger at Sri Lanka under the guise of human rights for the Tiger terrorists killed in action.

President Rajapaksa's increasing popularity, both here and abroad, would undoubtedly thwart all Western conspiracies and help Sri Lanka to march triumphantly towards its goal of becoming the wonder of Asia.