by Kadira Pethiyagoda Courtesy The Island

Sri Lanka’s application for BRICS membership may be an early indication of President Dissanayake’s long-term vision. It signals shrewdness on the international stage. It has potential to serve the country’s strategic interests through: increased diversity of partners; making Colombo a greater priority for non-BRICS states; and the ability to shape a grouping containing the world’s rising Great Powers.

It has potential to serve the country’s economic interests through positioning Colombo to influence and benefit from new funding sources, financial instruments and the new trading currency the grouping is likely to introduce. It stays true to the non-aligned ethos the NPP was known to have when it was elected. It is also an application with a realistic chance at success because Sri Lankan membership would be a major win for BRICS.

Benefits for Sri Lanka

As a small state, Sri Lanka’s interests are best served when Great Powers and the institutions they control compete for Colombo’s favour. Membership of BRICS provides Sri Lanka, not only a platform to engage rising powers and assess their offerings, but also incentivizes states outside BRICS to offer Colombo more. Outside states will also see value in wooing Colombo in order to influence BRICS. This is all the more so because, while it has traditionally concentrated on economic cooperation, BRICS is now adopting a more holistic, strategic focus. And despite its internal challenges, of all major international groupings, BRICS arguably has the greatest potential for growth in strategic power. It contains all the big rising military powers, most notably China, India and Russia, who are already three of the four largest military spenders.

Secondly, post-independence Sri Lanka’s overarching foreign policy vision has always involved a world with greater parity between states, particularly between North and South, East and West. The gravest threat to Sri Lanka’s security stemmed from a separatist insurgency that survived, in large part, due to the ability to garner support/funding from wealthier/larger states. Greater international equality is thus central to Colombo’s long-term security interests. BRICS’ objective of a multipolar world order (a primary foreign policy goal of its major members), seeks more equality between Great Powers. Joining allows Colombo to shape this objective in a way that benefits not just Great Powers, but also smaller states, i.e. through a flatter international power structure overall.

Certain economic initiatives have significant strategic ramifications. This includes the proposed multicurrency system for cross-border payments, new BRICS currency in the long-term, the ‘BRICS Pay’ alternative payment system to SWIFT, and the prerequisite that members not sanction each other – all of which Sri Lanka can influence and mould as a member.

In pure economic terms, as a BRICS member, Sri Lanka can benefit from being able to shape existing and future BRICS finance alternatives to the IMF. Colombo can lobby for new sources of loans to not impose the austerity policies known to foist the greatest burdens upon ordinary people (e.g. Argentina etc.), in line with NPP’s platform.

Benefits for BRICS

Sri Lanka’s application is not a frivolous one. As a key theatre for geopolitical competition in Asia, BRICS countries benefit from Colombo’s membership. The island is situated near major sea lines of communication, including directly between two of what the US and China consider critical chokepoints: Bab el Mandeb (entry to the Red Sea) and the Straits of Malacca, connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and Pacific. Leading BRICS states, particularly China and India, gain from another forum to engage in closer ties with Sri Lanka.

Moreover, Sri Lanka’s membership of BRICS provides a space for China and India to engage Colombo and each other to resolve disagreements over each other’s presence on the island. They are also more likely to do so in the presence of recent Sino-India mediator, Russia.

Despite being dominated by the Eurasian giants – China, India and Russia – BRICS’ new members have largely been Middle Eastern and African states. Sri Lanka, as a majority Buddhist, South Asian state would boost BRICS’ appeal to both South and Southeast Asia.

Colombo’s importance as a member is also thanks to its formidable military capability, with an army experienced in vanquishing the world’s most powerful insurgent group. Economically, Sri Lanka is a highly suitable candidate with its GDP PPP only 20% less than existing BRICS member Ethiopia. Sri Lanka’s location, natural resources and highly educated population mean it has significant economic potential.

By seeking to apply for BRICS membership, the Government serves Sri Lanka’s strategic and economic interests. It gives Colombo greater leverage with Great Powers inside and outside BRICS. The latter is particularly true given that BRICS is in the process of blending the geographic and cultural diversity of the Non-Aligned Movement, with a military and economic power soon to surpass the old Soviet bloc. Membership places Colombo at the forefront of opportunities to shape this emerging grouping. From BRICS’ perspective, Sri Lanka promises to be a valuable addition thanks to its location at the heart of Asia’s sea lanes, and its economic and security capabilities. Perhaps most importantly, the decision signifies a confidence befitting the dignity of a nation that has fought for its complete independence four times, and won.

(Dr Kadira Pethiyagoda is the first Sri Lankan born candidate for Oxford University Chancellor. He is a foreign policy expert, who was a visiting scholar at Oxford, diplomat and ministerial advisor, and is author of Indian Foreign Policy and Cultural Values” (Palgrave). @KPethiyagoda)