Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has called for a fresh approach from the world to maintain a stable geopolitical system in the wake of the escalating conflict involving Israel and Hamas.

Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Geopolitical Cartographer, an international research foundation specialising in the Indian Ocean, under the theme ‘Emerging New Order in the Indian Ocean Region’, Wickremesinghe on Friday night talked about the importance of the current situation in West Asia and its potential impact on the global order.

The 74-year-old leader expressed concerns about the global geopolitical implications of the conflict, particularly the challenges for the United States in managing multiple international issues simultaneously.

“Can the US manage Ukraine, Taiwan and the Middle East, Gaza? I don’t think so. If you are going to have two aircraft carrier groups in the Mediterranean, that’s serious. Can you manage it? It’s going to be difficult because many issues are going to arise,” he said.

He stressed the need for dialogue and cooperation among nations to address these challenges and emphasised that the international community must work together to maintain a stable geopolitical system.

He expressed hope that extreme reactions from different parts of the world should not dominate the discourse and that alternative solutions should be explored, including the possibility of a four-state solution involving Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Lebanon.

President Wickremesinghe urged a fresh approach to solving the conflict, emphasising that the old ways of addressing the situation may not yield the necessary solutions.