Sri Lanka must host a Non-Aligned Peace Initiative to ease Indo-Pak tensions & renew Indian Ocean as Zone of Peace

Indo-Pak tensions, African civil wars, Middle Eastern border crises all share a root cause – these are all artificial borders created by colonial invaders as part of their Divide & rule policy. While former colonial powers tell the former colonies to “forgive & forget” “move on” & close the chapter of colonial crimes, no former colonies can move forward because every issue they currently face are all legacies planted during colonial rule. Artificial borders they drew still bleed, conflicts & communal divisions they engineered still burn, systems they imposed still oppress. The past is not past when its consequences still continue to define our present. However, the current scenario unraveling between India & Pakistan is of concern. We do not wish to see any more bloodshed. Sri Lanka must take a leaf from Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s diplomacy & launch a mini Non-Aligned Peace Dialogue to help reduce the tensions as well as pledge all member nations to reiterate Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. Terrorists have no caste, religion, ethnicity or nationality. They are hired “freedom fighters”. Terrorists have no allegiance. They will even turn against those that created them. Therefore, terrorists should be shunned globally.

The present Indo-Pak conflict is another colonial legacy. Religious divisions between Hindus & Muslims became a political tool & that hatred continues. When Britain partitioned India the Radcliffe Line was drawn in just 5 weeks with no understanding of the region, splitting villages, communities & rivers – it resulted in over 1million deaths, largest forced migration.

Kashmir unresolved border is a colonial legacy that led to the first Indo-Pak war. British failed to define outcome of “princely states” like Jammu & Kashmir. Technically they were free to join either India or Pakistan. Kashmir had a Muslim-majority population but a Hindu ruler Maharaja Hari Singh. In 1947 he signed the “instrument of accession to India” which led to eventual division of Kashmir but not a legal international border. Britain is responsible for fostering separate religious electorates conceptualizing religious identity as a political tool. Unnatural boundaries & religious politics make a lethal combination, a scenario applicable not only to Kashmir.

Mini-NAM Peace Initiative – People to People Initiatives

Inviting all Non-Aligned Member Nations as well as neutral global powers & launch an Indo-Pak Peace Fellowship for youth & scholars.

Sri Lanka has played a pivotal & historic role as a founding member in the non-aligned movement & has the credibility to lead such an initiative having ended 30 years of terrorism.

The framework for the Summit is to renew trust & reduce tensions, to de-escalate a brewing conflict and facilitate dialogue.

Sri Lanka must reach out through informal diplomatic channels to friendly third parties of both Pakistan & India & key NAM allies to support the effort, not forgetting the global south powers. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry must play a strategic role in dispatching confidential exploratory notes, expressing intent & inviting informal feedback. A steering committee comprising senior diplomats, conflict resolution experts, former NAM officials & youth representatives must be part of this initiative.

The Summit can be titled “Island of Dialogue: Sri Lanka’s Call for Peace in the Subcontinent” with hashtag #PeaceFromOurIsland. Film makers/documentary makers must be encouraged to come up with a short film on shared Indo-Pak heritage & good times shared. The Summit can perhaps end with a Colombo Peace Charter.

The Indian Ocean must be reclaimed as a Zone of Peace, not a playground for global powers.

For centuries, this ocean was a bridge for trade, culture, and migration — connecting East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Today, it risks becoming a theater for military competition and proxy conflicts.

For centuries our ancestors have used the Indian Ocean to carry ships not submarines, trade not tensions, unity not war. In this new developed 21st century that Non-Aligned aspiration for an Indian Ocean Zone of Peace cannot become a theatre of war.

Superpowers cannot be allowed to play chess with our sovereignty. We are not pawns to bleed to satisfy geopolitical goals.

By refusing to sign foreign defense pacts, the nations of the Indian Ocean region can reject the militarization of their waters and assert their right to sovereignty & peace.

This also requires Sri Lanka to relook at all agreements / MOUs signed compromising Sri Lanka’s territory & Indian Ocean peace.

Sri Lanka must not sign any defense pacts or withdraw any pacts signed that militarizes the Indian Ocean & divides into spheres of influence.

The Indian Ocean belongs to its littoral states — not to distant empires, foreign navies, or military blocs. To honor the legacy of the Non-Aligned Movement, and to secure true independence, we must demand demilitarization, promote regional cooperation, and restore the Indian Ocean as a shared space of peace, not power.

The Peace Summit must call upon all coastal nations from Africa to South Asia to South East Asia to reject defense pacts that create foreign conflicts. There should be no foreign military bases in littoral states, no military alliances that lead to regional tensions, environmental protection of our shared waters & respect for sovereignty.

UN General Assembly Resolution 2832 (XXVI) 1971 adopted on 16 December declared the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. It called for the prohibition of great power military presence, elimination of foreign bases & promotion of peace & cooperation among coastal states.

Though UN General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, it carries a moral & political importance & will become significant if the people of these littoral states unitedly demand all nations honor the resolution.

An Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean was established by the UN to develop legal & political measures to implement the Zone of Peace, especially its relations to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that does not prohibit military use.

What is now required is for the Indian Ocean Zone of Peace is to be made into a legally binding law formulated along the lines of the Treaty of Tlatelolco (declaraing Latin America as a nuclear free zone).

It is now time to revive the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace given the current political scenario. Sri Lanka holding a non-aligned peace summit can take the lead in this regard.

Sri Lanka may be a small island nation sitting at the heart of the Indian Ocean. We were & continue to be the centre for trade, shared cultures & Buddhist diplomacy that once united the East & West.

While many nations seek dominance through weapons & wars, Sri Lanka is offering Buddhist diplomacy as a founding member of the non-aligned movement, Sri Lanka is a friend to all & an enemy to none.

The world has seen too many wars & mini-conflicts, too much of bloodshed & tears. Global supremacy, regional supremacy at the cost of lives & tears is meaningless.

The waters of the Indian Ocean must spell peace not turn the ocean & nations into pieces.

Shenali D Waduge

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