Sri Lanka has jumped 18 positions in the rankings. The country remained ranked at 114 in South Asia in 2015 based on factors such as criminality in society, militarizing, and the level of political instability and the rate of violent crimes.

IEP had highlighted thus about Sri Lanka in its recently released GPI for 2016: “The country successfully conducted two sets of elections in 2015 - presidential in January and parliamentary in August which brought a reformist administration with a strong mandate. The country’s increased peacefulness is also due to better relations with neighbouring countries.”

Sri Lanka has seen improvements in political stability, IEP observed.

“Improvements in political instability, likelihood of violent demonstrations, and number and duration of internal conflicts all contributed to the enhancement in its domestic situation. Driving these trends was a strengthening of the country’s democratic institutions during the administration of Maithripala Sirisena, who continues to make strides in combating corruption and reverse the authoritarianism of the previous administration,” it stated.

“His government has continued to pursue a strategy of ethnic reconciliation following the end of the civil war in 2009. Sri Lanka has improved its ties with India, which is reflected in an improvement in its score for relationships with neighbouring countries.”

Iceland topped the Global Peace Index as the most peaceful country. Next to it are Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, Portugal, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and Slovenia. European countries, France and the UK, are held down by very low rankings on external peace indicators, in line with their repeated military engagements in recent years.

(Chamikara Weerasinghe - dailynews.lk)