President Mahinda Rajapaksa was all for a suggestion that countries in Asia should shift their focus from the West to the East. Given Sri Lanka’s close relations with China, such advice was like telling children that they should eat more chocolates. The suggestion came from former Al-Jazeera chief Wadah Khanfar when he met the President [...]

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President Mahinda Rajapaksa was all for a suggestion that countries in Asia should shift their focus from the West to the East. Given Sri Lanka’s close relations with China, such advice was like telling children that they should eat more chocolates.
The suggestion came from former Al-Jazeera chief Wadah Khanfar when he met the President on Tuesday at Temple Trees. Khanfar, who now heads the think-tank as-Sharq Forum, was here on a two-day lecture tour at the invitation of the Bakeer Markar Centre for National Unity.

The President’s guest, however said, he did not believe that the countries of the South should look towards one country or a single power centre such as China. Instead, they should evolve a collective leadership within the non-aligned movement to promote South-South cooperation. Such collective leadership would be more beneficial for countries in the global South and East, Khanfar said.

He said it was in this context that the Arab world, especially the new democracies, was rediscovering and reconnecting its historic links with the global East.

The President said he hoped the freedom which the Arab people won after historic revolutions would not be usurped by the military or new dictators. Allaying the President’s fears, Khanfar said the Middle East was witnessing a new transformation and the people’s aspirations were being realised.

Expressing his support for the new democracies in the Middle East, the President said Sri Lanka intended to strengthen relations with these countries.

When the discussion turned to religion and politics, Khanfar said religion and politics should not mix. To whatever religion one belongs, whether one is a majority or minority, it is the values that matter. If religion and politics were mixed, in the end, both would get destroyed, Khanfar told the President.

Khanfar and members of the Bakeer Markar Centre were to meet the President in the morning soon after a breakfast lecture hosted by the Sri Lanka Press Institute at Hotel Taj. But the meeting was put off by an hour or so because the President was scheduled to address the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s opening session.

When the meeting took place, the visitors were surprised by an invitation from the President to have lunch with him. But before the sumptuous meal, they had a taste of Rajapaksa PR. That was before their meeting with the Rajapaksa started. As soon as the President arrived at Temple Trees after the CPA ceremony, three busloads of schoolchildren accompanied by their teachers had come from various provinces. He spoke to them, inquired about problems in their schools and gave instructions to his officials to take immediate steps to solve these problems.




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