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Sri Lanka’s outstanding record in the Non-Aligned Movement has projected a prominent and leading image of this nation in the eyes of political observers.
Sri Lanka’s progressive approach regarding the issue of Palestine is equally commendable in its own right—even though sending workforce to the territories usurped from the Palestinian people stands in direct contradiction with this very progressive stance.
On the other hand, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party has historically possessed an anti-imperialist manifesto. Opposition to imperialism means opposing unilateralist policies and the claim of global dominance by a single nation.
Yet the question remains: in light of the JVP’s anti-imperialist manifesto and Sri Lanka’s history of opposing all forms of unilateralism, how should one interpret the explicit statements made by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister in accepting the illegal and unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran?
In an interview with The Sunday Times conducted on October 3 and published on October 4, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister explicitly declared that not only will the Sri Lankan government refrain from supplying food, water, and medicine to the crews of stranded vessels in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), but it has also strictly advised Sri Lankan private companies to observe the unilateral U.S. sanctions and withhold food and water from the crew members of Iranian ships waiting for provisions!
This comes at a time when Sri Lanka, as a member of the United Nations, is obligated to fulfill its duties under the Convention on the Law of the Sea (Article 98), as well as the SOLAS and SAR Conventions.
Regardless of all these Conventions, there exists an unwritten yet binding convention that obligates Sri Lanka:
It is the Convention of Not Forgetting Past Friendships.
It is the Convention of Humanitarian Actions.
These are conventions that exempt no country from extending humanitarian aid—especially Sri Lanka, which throughout its recent history has been a recipient of Iran’s unsparing, goodwill assistance.
