Features
Continuing importance of UK’s ties with the developing world
The above were two insights that were provided into the current foreign policy of the UK by the latter’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Andrew Patrick at the Pathfinder Foundation’s third Ambassadors’ Roundtable held at the Hotel Taj Samudra’s Colombo Club on August 30. Among the participants in the forum were officials of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, local public servants, journalists and media personnel, think tank representatives and others.
At the Q&A that followed H.C. Patrick’s presentation issues of considerable salience to the UK’s ties with Sri Lanka and the global South were fruitfully discussed. It was apt that Sri Lanka’s economic ties with the UK came in for detailed discussion.
Regardless of Sri Lanka’s past status as a colony of the UK, this columnist is inclined to the view that Sri Lanka’s post-colonial ties with Great Britain have, on the whole, been very wholesome and productive. The UK has been mainly instrumental, of course, in introducing Sri Lanka to Western civilization and culture and although opinions may differ locally on whether this has proved a good or a bad thing, any impartial observer would be compelled to concede that the UK’s continuing cultural influence in Sri Lanka in particular has accrued more to the latter’s benefit than to its detriment.
The beneficial influence continuing to be wielded by the British Council Library on Sri Lanka, alone, clinches the point. It could be unhesitatingly stated that higher education in the Humanities and the arts, in particular, is impossible in Sri Lanka without the sustenance and support of the British Council Library. It is a resource base that just cannot be ignored by those aspiring to be educationally well-rounded men or women.
Moreover, the English Language is currently the widest used international language and is crucial to the conduct of global relations in a multiplicity of spheres. Truly, it may be said that minus the English Language a self-sufficient existence for countries is inconceivable today.
Thanks to the Library’s English Language teaching programs, quite a number of local primary and secondary school students are being enabled to be proficient in English. In an assessment of how the Library is benefiting Sri Lanka, these teaching programs should not be glossed over.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Samoa in October ought to prompt the governments and publics of the UK’s former colonies to re-assess the importance of Britain in their foreign policy thinking and to reflect deeply on the foregoing things.
Thus far, the British Commonwealth of Nations has remained largely intact as a collectivity of mainly the South and this fact testifies to the continuing relevance of the Commonwealth and it usefulness, for Britain’s former colonies in particular. All things considered, the latter have found it advisable to remain within the Commonwealth fold.
The British Commonwealth’s continued existence and vibrancy is also proof of the ‘balanced’ nature of British foreign policy; a factor that H.C. Patrick thought it fit to stress. This aspect of British foreign policy should be considered as being manifested in the comparatively unobtrusive character of the UK’s dealings with the rest of the world. It does not follow from this premise that Britain would not be forceful in its international relations in matters that touch crucially on what it sees as its best interests. It cannot be otherwise.
H.C. Patrick’s subsequent comments to the effect that the UK was seeking to re-connect with the EU and other global players that matter needed to be seen as reflecting the UK’s efforts at conducting a ‘balanced foreign policy’. That is, these initiatives are an extension of the current UK foreign policy of maintaining an equidistance, so to speak, between it and other global powers.
Among other notable ‘takes’ from the H.C.’s presentation was the comment that Britain is placing an emphasis on strengthening its ties with India. This is welcome news for the democracies of South Asia in particular in view of India’s growing stature as a global ‘Swing State.’ It is only those democratic powers that are capable of influencing world developments in a beneficial direction that are credited with a ‘Swing’ status and growing positive ties between India and Britain are bound to be welcomed by democratic opinion the world over as presaging a global power balance more in favour of the world’s democracies.
On the economic development front, what was of principal interest for the developing world in the H.C.’s presentation was his mention that the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) has now come to replace the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP), which had hitherto played a pivotal role in regulating developing countries’ access to UK export markets.
From the Sri Lankan viewpoint in particular what would be of importance in this context is that, for instance, Sri Lanka would have improved access to the UK market. Specifically, some 99 percent of its exports would be eligible to zero tariffs. Needless to say, this is a considerable boon for a struggling economy.
Besides the above ‘positive spinoffs’ on the cultural and economic fronts for Southern states, such as Sri Lanka, from improved ties with the UK, the South would also do well to study long and deep Britain’s Race Relations Act, which has over the decades helped it considerably in effectively managing its identity conflicts. While it is true that Britain is no stranger to racial violence, it is equally true that it is also home to a vibrant Anti-Racism Movement that springs into action in the face of such disturbances. The mentioned legislation apparently goes some distance in motivating the public to say ‘No’ to race hate.
Sri Lanka has been plagued for long decades by racial violence but has to date done nothing constructive to bring it within manageable limits. Legislation on the lines of the UK’s Race Relations Act would enable Sri Lanka to manage its race relations better and lay a durable basis for sustainable development which is inconceivable without internal peace and harmony.