The issues growing out of the controversial decision by Sri Lanka’s Ranil Wickremesinghe regime to deploy a Sri Lankan naval vessel in the Red Sea, ostensibly to help manage law-and-order problems in the region, offer an opportunity for the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) to bounce back into contention. There is no better time than now for NAM to shake itself out of its seemingly decades-long ‘hibernation’.

Critics of the regime’s move are right when they take up the position that Sri Lanka should keep out of the US-led, seemingly anti-terrorism naval operation in the Red Sea. Simply put, this is not small Sri Lanka’s war. Nor is there anything much in it for Sri Lanka.

On the face of it, it would be exceedingly difficult for the analyst to figure out as to why Sri Lanka chose to ‘stick its neck out’, so to speak, in this bourgeoning conflict in the Red Sea region. It would seem that Sri Lanka stands to neither lose nor gain anything substantial by thus volunteering its assistance to the West.

To all intents and purposes, this smacks of nothing more than an effort by Sri Lanka to pull the West’s ‘chestnuts out of the fire.’ The US is receiving ample assistance by its Western allies to manage terror-linked issues in the region and Sri Lanka’s contribution in this regard is bound to be quite minimal.

By offering to help the West, Sri Lanka is jeopardizing its neutrality, and by implication its Non-aligned credentials, in this potential regional conflict which shows every sign of growing out of control and exceeding the geographical confines of the Middle East. The possibility of Sri Lanka too being ‘in the eye of the storm’, sooner or later, cannot be ruled out. Sri Lanka should think wisely and keep out of the growing maelstrom.

Some Sri Lankan government functionaries are on record that by Sri Lanka involving itself in the US-led, Red Sea operation, Sri Lanka would be instrumental in keeping its sea-based trade routes with a substantial part of the world open and secure. It is argued that this in turn would help in keeping the prices of our imports at affordable or low levels.

Theoretically this could be so, but it comes as ‘news’ to this columnist that the Sri Lankan authorities are earnestly concerned about consumer prices. A visit by any householder to a grocery store in the country proves just the opposite. Prices of the majority of goods and services are forever on the rise under the very noses of the governmental authorities. And virtually nothing is done by the latter to check this vicious price spiral. How then could a case be made out that the authorities are sensitive to the price rises of imported goods?

The answer to this seeming perplexity of the Ranil Wickremesinghe regime going out of its way to help the West in the Red Sea should be sought in the ideological orientation of the government. The current regime is unabashedly pro-Western and is hand-and-in-glove with it, so to speak. Thus, it should not come as a surprise if the regime goes the extra mile to please the West.

There is a stable commonality of interests between the Sri Lankan government and the West. One of these is the free enterprise system. UNP-led governments have always enjoyed this commonality with the West and the dire financial straits that Sri Lanka is in currently renders it even more compliant with Western policy outlooks and demands. The IMF, a principal Western financial institution, is the chief financier of the Sri Lankan government.

Considering that Sri Lanka’s continued material existence depends very much on the largesse of the IMF and the World Bank, it should not come as a surprise if the current Sri Lankan regime is exceptionally compliant with the dictates and wishes of the West. Hence, the Red Sea ‘surprise’.

However, it needs to be pointed that most Sri Lankan regimes, especially since the early nineties, have been essentially compliant with Western demands in view of their high dependence on the IMF-WB combine for their diurnal financial existence. Besides, they have been basically pro-capitalist and pro-market reform in economic policy. In fact, no earnest efforts were ever made to practise socialism in its truest sense in Sri Lanka.

However, the fact that Sri Lanka, a founding member of NAM, has seemingly abandoned the policy of Non-alignment should not be seen as in any way diluting the intrinsic merit of Non-alignment as a foreign policy principle. Now, perhaps more than ever before, NAM needs to be revived and rendered a potent force in world politics.

The Gaza war which is degenerating into a regional conflict or a crisis of even worse dimensions, obliges NAM to take a lead role in defusing it and working towards a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the vexatious problem. NAM is best suited for this historic task, given its general appeal among states of the South. It is also committed to avoiding alignment with major power blocs and this policy stance could be revived and put to good use in the Middle East.

Besides, NAM counts among its leading lights countries such as India, South Africa and Indonesia which could constructively influence states in both South and North to the cause of a political settlement. However, these dominant states would need to shun participation in the current West-led naval exercises in the Red Sea. They would need to use their influence, along with the rest of the South, to champion the cause of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza and a subsequent earnestly sought political settlement which would be fair by all the main parties to the conflict.

Fairness needs to emerge as a prime consideration for NAM. While, the issues central to the Palestinian people need to be resolved at any future NAM-led talks, the just requirements of the Israelis too should be given utmost priority at the negotiating table. While there is no denying that the security and wellbeing of the Palestinian people should figure as matters of the first importance, the same goes for the people of Israel. Until these conditions are met, it would be futile to speak about lasting peace in the Middle East.

Given the enduring insecurities of the Palestinians and the Israelis, there is no choice for NAM but to work towards the realization of the Two-State solution. It remains the only rational way out of the compounded crisis.