A 'Foreign Service Act'?:

Special law needed for independent Foreign Service

by Nanda Godage

Given that the conduct of international relations brings Sri Lanka on to the world stage where we must interact with the most powerful and the weakest of states, we are challenged to manage our relations with the rest of the world with the greatest professional finesse. There can be no room for favouritism of any sort to replace competence, skill and talent in our deployment of human resources in the sphere of the country’s diplomatic service.

Pic: courtesy barbiequeenbee.blogspot.com

A new year has dawned and a new administration has been formed after almost a decade of mismanagement and the loss of a very special opportunity when Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to finish off the separatist threat to this country (which no leader was able to do since 1978).

Today, a new scenario has emerged and we now appear to be, at last, heading towards formulating a proper foreign policy. It is with much regret that I state that the previous administration did not seem to understand Diplomacy or what the management of foreign relations was about.

New world order

In this regard, to state that the country misses the services of Lakshman Kadirgamar, is to make a gross understatement. Let us not forget that even with the war with the LTTE raging, while Kadirgamar was at the helm of our External Affairs, we had no western countries on our backs. He was even able to build the foundation, through diplomacy, to have the LTTE proscribed in the West.

The last government forgot that Diplomacy is all about persuasion.

A new world order is, indeed, emerging today with China and India on the verge of becoming super powers. A new situation has arisen to which we need to relate in order to safeguard our national interest. We, because of our particular location, need to do a diplomatic balancing act.

This brings back memories of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike era and the era of the Cold War, when we had no enemies and only friends, when India not only took back half a million persons of Indian descent but also withdrew her claim to Katchchativu. That was an era of brilliant diplomacy.

As it was then, today, too, we see the US and the West seeking to shape and influence the international system to meet their needs. But this world has changed with the emergence, in particular, of China and India and Japan too, shaking off her inhibitions and becoming a global ‘player’.

As for relations with China and India, both countries are important for our international well-being. We must be absolutely neutral in our bilateral relations with these countries because neutrality can be a bargaining tool for us. During the period of the Cold War,the Non-Aligned Movement emerged seeking to balance the game of great power rivalry, but with the Soviet Union disintegrating the Cold War ended.

Sale of arms

However, we now have a different situation to which to relate. We have now another ‘Cold War’ of sorts developing as a result of the situation in Ukraine and Russia seeking to once again assert itself claiming that she needs to ensure her country’s security by using the Russian-speaking diaspora to expand.

We, as a country, need not get involved in this at all but, unfortunately, a citizen of ours has seen in it an opportunity to make money through the sale of arms to pro-Russian rebels. But it was and is an entirely private matter and should not be allowed to affect our national interests.

We need to be pragmatic in the conduct of our international relations. In this regard we cannot afford to forget the fact that we export most to the West and that our relationship is almost 500 years old. After the two World Wars, the US and the West have been seeking to shape the world in accordance with their values and interests.

It has, indeed, been a cold blooded game, but the emergence of new ‘powers’ in recent years, such as China and India, has changed the situation somewhat. We, small countries living in an increasingly inter-dependent world, have more space now to determine and pursue our national interests without being totally dominated by the super powers.

Yes, our foreign policy must be dictated by our own national interests and no other. We are a small weak country with a powerful neighbour, which is pursuing her own national interest, which we need to factor in, as our own security and territorial integrity are intertwined with hers.

Besides security and safeguarding our territorial integrity, ‘Development’ is our principal national interest.

There are, of course, our national values which we hold dear, such as Democracy and the Rule of Law. We seek to build a society which is egalitarian and secular, which respects human rights and is nondiscriminatory of minorities and, just as much as no State should be allowed to dominate any other, no group in society should be allowed to dominate any other merely on the basis of being a majority.

Image

We should not selfishly pursue our own particular race-based interests. Achieving economic development and peace for all along with stability for the country should be the goal of our domestic policy.

There is no denying the fact of the link between the situation at home and the perception of our image abroad. We need, therefore, to be always mindful of this and our foreign policy should be directed at winning friends on the international circuit and promoting investment, trade and tourism to our country, as the development of our country is our principal goal and objective.

As for the political side, in this day and age of instant communication and easy international travel, the Ministry should be so staffed as to be able to easily liaise with our missions and direct them on the positions they should take on any particular issue.

That is, if it is a bilateral matter then the mission would have a critical role to play, but if it is a multilateral issue it would be the Ministry that would be playing a coordinating role to decide on the government’s position. The Ministry itself would of course have a key role to play in the formulation of our country’s Foreign Policy. The Ministry itself should be restructured and revitalised to play its role in the implementation of the government’s policies.

In this regard I would suggest that the government appoint a committee of retired senior public servants and also the likes of former High Commissioner Mangala Munasinghe and Ambassador Javid Yusuf to report on the restructuring of the Ministry.

This brings to mind that it was the present Minister Mangala who, as one of his first acts after he first assumed duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2010, appointed a Committee chaired by former civil servant M. D. D. Peiris with myself, Manel Abeysekera, Ananda Gunasekera and two others to make a study of the staffing of our Missions in relation to the work expected.

National interests

We prepared what we thought was a comprehensive report but sadly the Minister had some problem with President Rajapaksa and resigned. And his successor had no interest and that was it. I do hope Minister Mangala revives the process, because we must staff our Missions according to our needs, not to give employment to friends and relatives.

Yes, we should not appoint every Tom, Dick and Haramanis to promote and safeguard our national interests. If we are short of professional personnel of the Ministry to appoint as heads of Missions, then we could draw on eminent persons from other professions and from among qualified leaders in the corporate sector.

If they are prepared to accept the challenge to serve the country, they could be put through a six week training program and then be appointed on contract for three years and certainly not for two as previously done because the head of Mission becomes most effective in the third year.

As for staffing of the Ministry and our Missions, since the career Foreign Service is, itself, short-staffed, may I suggest that we call for applications from the SLAS and the University teaching cadre and hold an exam for them, followed by an interview to check on their suitability to serve as Diplomats and then appoint them to the Service to fill the cadre.

In this regard I wish once again (I have called for this many times over) to request the government and Minister Mangala to introduce a ‘Foreign Service Act’ to protect and professionalise the Service in the interest of the country; it is an imperative and, is in the national interest, for such a Service would assist the President and the government in conducting the foreign affairs of the country in an integrated manner.

Ambassador Kalyananda Godagé is a former senior diplomat.