All decisions taken by the Government will follow the Country First Policy, Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry, PC said in Parliament yesterday (28).
Minister Sabry made this observation delivering the reply speech at the debate on the Expenditure Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Minister Sabry pointed out that no foreign country or entity can force solutions on Sri Lanka.
“A country’s foreign policy is the reflection of the internal situation of the country.
The Foreign Service is like the marketing team of a company. So, what we create is what we can display on the outside. Thus it is imperative that we establish our values, so that we can create a better image of this country.
We as a country have followed the non-aligned foreign policy for a long time. It is a dynamic neutral foreign policy. We do not prefer to belong to one particular group. We adopt a “Friendship to all, malice to none” foreign policy. We are trying to work together with everybody because in this global scenario, we cannot ignore anyone,” Minister Sabry said.
“The Middle East, South Asia and China are important to us, the US is our biggest market, the EU is our second biggest market and the UK is our third biggest market. Therefore, all these people are extremely important to us. In a globalized situation, we cannot live in isolation.
We have to reiterate our foreign policy is Sri Lanka First, there is no two words about it. Every decision that we are going to take is on the basis of Sri Lanka’s interest. By taking that decision, Sri Lanka is not going to be isolated, but strengthened.
We will not, whether we like it or not, be taking anybody’s imposing their solution on us. We are an independent country, for some people, sovereignty may not be important, but we are very concerned about the sovereignty of our country and its independence.
Therefore, we will engage everyone, talk to everyone, we will be open for discussion, but we will do what is right for our country. We will not be doing what is right for other countries.
We want to make it very clear that we are friend for all, malice to none and we want to pursue that policy.
In globalized circumstances, everything is moving fast. So some decisions we make may work, some may not work, however, we will take these decisions bona fide for the betterment of our country and not on personal agenda,” Minister Sabry further said. Minister Sabry also said that all the practical and doable proposals made by the MPs during the Debate on the Expenditure Head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry will be taken into consideration.
Add new comment