Sri Lanka, Nov. 19 -- By Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP

Today in Parliament, during the Committee Stage debate on the Foreign Ministry's expenditure head, I felt compelled to challenge the traditional view of how Sri Lanka engages with the world.

I listened to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, hoping for an articulation of a modern policy stance that justifies our budget allocations, but instead, we heard the usual rhetoric.

Foreign Policy is Economic Strategy

We can no longer afford to operate in silos. I stated clearly on the floor that we need to stop separating foreign policy from our economic survival.

As I argued in my speech, the truth is unavoidable: "We need to think of foreign policy in terms of economic strategy. Forget all the rh...