The President of Sri Lanka has come in for sharp criticism from the representatives of the Tamil People for acting against the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) while he plans to take part in the Summit of the Heads of State of the movement.
Jaffna district MP and senior attorney M A. Sumanthiran says the decision to send a Sri Lankan warship to the Red Sea area without the approval of the parliament is not acceptable and also acts against the principles of the NAM to which Sri Lanka is also a signatory.
While condemning the decision to send a warship to the Red Sea, he warns this could potentially cause huge problems for the nation.
“If we are a nation committed to the principles of Non-Alignment, then the decision of the President is an affront the country”.
The president announced his Red Sea plans at an event to honour artisans with the “Shilpa Abhimani” award at the Bandaranayake Memorial International Conference Hall this month.
“Traffic in the Red Sea is already suspended since the Houthis started attacking ships in that region. If these ships have to circumvent via South Africa instead of the Red Sea, then the cost of products will drastically increase. So, to support action against the Houthis in the Red Sea and the ensure safety of the shops, we have agreed to send a warship there” President Ranil Wickremesinghe had said earlier.
The minority Shia Yemeni rebel group Houthi is officially known as Ansar Allah and is a division of the Zaid armed group. They started their armed rebellion against Israel in the early nineties of the last century.
The President also said the nation needs 250 million LKR to station two of its warships in the Red Sea area.
Meanwhile speaking to media persons in Colombo Sri Lanka Navy Spokesperson Captain Gyan Wickremesuriya said although the warships are getting ready for sailing to the Red Sea, no dates to sail have been fixed as yet.
Sumanthiran urged the government to be steadfast in its Non-Alignment policy. His comments come as President Ranil Wickremesinghe is travelling to the Ugandan capital Kampala to attend the 19th NAM Summit where the Heads of the State Governments will address the gathering on the 19th and 20th of January and adopt the ‘Kampala Declaration’.
Media reports say the President is expected to travel to Kampala from Davos where he is attending the World Economic Forum.
