Sri Lanka India Society celebrates India’s 71st Republic Day and Sri Lanka’s 72nd Independence Day

State Minister Sushil Premajayantha attends as chief guest

The Sri Lanka India Society (SLIS) celebrated India’s 71st  Republic Day and Sri Lanka’s 72nd  Independence Day on February 28, 2020 at a function held at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo. Hon. Sushil Premajayantha, State Minister for International Cooperation, Sri Lanka was the Chief Guest and Acting High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka H.E. Vinod K. Jacob was the Guest of Honour. President of SLIS Mr Rohan Tudawe, members of the diplomatic community, leaders of the industry, and other dignitaries were also present.

Speaking at the occasion, Hon. Sushil Premajayantha elaborated on the evolution of the Sri Lankan Constitution since the 19th century.  Hon. Minister highlighted the successful visits by the Sri Lankan leadership to India recently and mentioned that Sri Lanka looks forward to greater investment by Indian entrepreneurs and deeper economic engagement between two countries.

In his address, the Acting High Commissioner Jacob highlighted that the year 2020 marks the 129th birth anniversary of the father of Indian Constitution Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, and expounded on the values and principles that guided the Indian freedom struggle that subsequently found a place of pride in the Constitution of India. He made a special mention of the recent high-level visits by the Sri Lankan leaders to India following the Presidential polls in Sri Lanka and highlighted the fact that both countries have leaderships with strong mandates as a result of which there is a fresh momentum in bilateral ties. The solidarity visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka following the Easter Terror attacks in 2019 had a positive impact on the friendly relations between both countries. India is the largest source of tourism to Sri Lanka with 4.6 lakh arrivals in 2019. Acting High Commissioner Jacob further highlighted the salient points of the latest Indian budget and Economic Survey that have become an important reference for businesses and entrepreneurs in Asia. India, the fifth largest economy in the world remains on track to move to a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024. GDP growth is expected to increase to 6-6.5%. A record 271 million people have been raised out of poverty during the decade from 2006 to 2016. India has jumped 79 positions to 63 in 2019 from 142 in 2014 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings.

On the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji, founder of Sikhism, Mr Manvinder Singh of the Sri Guru Nanak Darbar, Colombo made a presentation on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev ji.

‘Maitri’, the magazine of the SLIS was also released at the event.

SLIS which is the oldest and largest friendship society in Sri Lanka, was founded in 1949, soon after the independence of India and Sri Lanka.