In his legendry book 'The art of war', written two and half thousand years ago Sun Tzu said above words. It seems there is no better time than the time that we are passing now matches the relevancy of his wisdom to present day Sri Lanka. The consistency with which we followed and adopted to win the peace defeating terrorism should be as same as during the present day peace time too in the event of a future instability in the country that might be ignited by the vested interested many a forces at play here and abroad. There should be no stone unturned in the event of Sri Lanka facing such an eventuality.
Shamindra Ferdinando of 'The Island' in an article titled 'Focus on post-war challenges SLN 61st anniversary today' on 08th of December underscores this necessary preparedness on the part of Sri Lankan armed forces in general and the SL Navy in particular .
The utter foolish policies adopted by the previous regimes by not equipping the navy, the first line of defense of the country, as per the requirements to face the challenges posed by the LTTE during last two decades cost Sri Lankan dearly giving LTTE terrorists a field day. The poorly equipped navy plus denying the resources to it by turning a blind eye of its requirements specially during Ranil Wickramasinha's tenure not only prolonged the war but also dragged the country's development many decades behind with monumental damages to the lives and the properties. The following quote from the article that quotes President Chandrika Kumaratunga highlights the plight with which we were faced with.
Several years ago the Jane's Defence quoted former President Chandrika Kumaratunga as having said "If we had upgraded our navy earlier, the problem of Tamil separatist terrorism would not have taken the present form."
Apart from the threats posed to the country's defense by the forces locally and abroad hell bent to destabilize the peaceful environment enjoyed by its citizens, our forces should be prepared to face our growing economic interests too as highlighted in his article by Shamindra Ferdinando as follows.
'The gradual expansion of operations by pirates operating off Somalia, oil and gas exploration in the sea bed of Mannar, people smuggling and poaching remain formidable challenges. The navy will have to adopt a result oriented strategy to tackle these issues.'
Some of the strategies recommended by Sun Tzu in his legendry book have been applied by our strategists too in the war against terrorism though it is not known whether they have ever read it. So the need of the hour is the preparedness for any eventuality with necessary resources being amply provided to our forces as Sun Tzu's wisdom has never proved wrong!
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