In 2007 Sri Lanka joined the ASEAN Regional Forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations. Sri Lanka has been working towards this for forty years. Already in 1967 and in 1981 the government of the country voiced their desire to become a member. It was rejected on the grounds that the country was not part of Southeast Asia. Myanmar, which was a part of the region, was accepted into the regional organization in the nineties. The question that these developments raise is why does Sri Lanka not belong to the region of Southeast Asia? How did the representatives of the member states know where the borders were? My research questions was: Why was Sri Lanka not allowed to join the ASEAN and Burma was? The reason why Sri Lanka was not granted membership to the ASEAN that was given was that the country was not a part of Southeast Asia but I believe that a case can be made that the domestic situation in Sri Lanka has also played a part in the decision.
展开▼
