by Asiri Fernando in The Sunday Morning, Aug 13, 2023
The new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for granting diplomatic clearance to foreign sea vessels and government or military aircraft visiting Sri Lanka, although approved by Cabinet, will likely be finalised and come into effect next month, The Sunday Morning reliably learns.
The new SOPs, which were drafted following a review after the controversial visit by Chinese State-owned satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 in August last year, was approved by the Cabinet early last month.
When contacted, Ministry of Defence Director Media Col. Nalin Herath told The Sunday Morning that the SOPs had been approved and were being finalised.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the new SOPs will come into effect soon.
A senior Government official close to the matter said that the process was likely to be completed by the end of the month or early next month, with the SOPs possibly coming into effect from September.
The importance of the SOPs for Sri Lanka to manage visits by foreign warships, aircraft, and research vessels was underscored as it was one of the topics discussed between the Sri Lankan President and the Indian Prime Minister during their recent meeting in New Delhi.
The new SOPs are seen as a vital tool to prevent the foreign policy debacle of last year, when the Yuan Wang 5 called at the Hambantota Port, triggering a geopolitical hornet’s nest that Colombo would like to avoid in the future, senior Government officials and diplomats told The Sunday Morning.
It will also be a key foreign policy instrument in maintaining Sri Lanka’s ‘friend of all’ stance while navigating the increasingly-complicated geopolitical arena, which the Indian Ocean is turning into.
The SOPs and Sri Lanka’s balancing act once again came under the spotlight this week, with the arrival of a Chinese hydrographic survey vessel, the Hai Yang 24 Hao, to Colombo Port on Thursday (10).
https://www.themorning.lk/articles/D2JAlgvEhMwZpidyZ3hs
