Message on the Occasion of India's 66th Republic Day from

Mr. Y. K. Sinha,

High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka

 On the occasion of the 66th Republic Day of India, I extend my warm greetings and good wishes to my fellow Indian citizens and to the friendly people and the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

2.     As Indians celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of our Republic, there is, coincidentally, a similar fervor in both India and Sri Lanka for reform and a better tomorrow. Both countries have recently experienced an exhilarating renewal of democracy, and the people have reposed their faith in visions that seek to fulfill the aspirations for change and promote social and economic development. I believe that this presents a unique opportunity for further deepening bilateral relations between our two countries.

3.     Ever since the decisive electoral victory of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, in May 2014, there is a mood of optimism for change in the country; the determination to pursue it; and, confidence to achieve it. The Government of India is actively working to promote development for all. Some of the important objectives of the Government include reviving economic growth; creating a policy environment that is predictable, transparent and fair; allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in sectors wherever needed for jobs and asset creation; and proactive facilitation for making ‘doing business’ in India easy. An enormous global interest in India indicates that these efforts are starting to bear fruit.

4.     One of the key initiatives of the new Government of India has been the removal of redundant laws, guided by a belief that governance should fulfill the aspirations of the common man. The establishment of the ‘Niti Aayog’ (National Institution for Transforming India) in place of the Planning Commission is one such example. The establishment of Niti Aayog (Niti means policy in Hindi) seeks to, inter alia, put an end to slow and tardy policy implementation by fostering better inter-ministerial and Centre-State coordination. On the international front, this institution will ensure that India is an active player in the debates and deliberations on the global commons.

5.     “Make in India” is another innovative initiative launched by Government of India. The emphasis is on simplification of procedures, rationalization of existing rules and increased use of information technology to make governance more efficient, effective, simple and user-friendly.  Best practices have been identified and disseminated. FDI norms have been made more attractive. In addition, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is implementing the ‘eBiz’ project, which will create an investor centric hub-and-spoke based online single window model for providing clearances and filing compliances. This project aims at providing a single platform to avail business and investment-related services.

6.     Mission Swach Bharat (Clean India campaign), yet another landmark initiative, links cleanliness to tourism and India’s global interests. There is recognition that world-class levels of hygiene and cleanliness are required at India's top tourist destinations, to bring about a paradigm shift in the global perception of India and to make India truly Incredible.

7.     The past few months have also witnessed various exhilarating moments for the Indian nation, be it the successful voyage of the Mangalyaan spacecraft to Mars; the successful test of a crew module for a future manned space mission; Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi winning the Nobel Prize; India being declared a polio-free country; or the United Nations celebrating Indian heritage by declaring an International Day of Yoga. All these have added to the sense of optimism in India.

8.     In Sri Lanka, too, there is a new sense of optimism and hope. The electoral victory of Hon’ble President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, is a tribute to his capacity to respond to the people’s yearning for change. India congratulates the people of Sri Lanka on the peaceful conduct of elections, and stands ready to continue to provide support and partnership to Sri Lanka in realizing its aspirations. We hope that this electoral result will advance peace, reconciliation and development in Sri Lanka, and peace and progress in our region. It is an affirmation of the close links between our two countries that Hon’ble Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, visited India within a week of being appointed, and President Maithripala Sirisena has announced that his first overseas visit would be to India. We look forward to welcoming President Sirisena in India very soon.

9.     India shares a special relationship with Sri Lanka - a relationship that is not merely a friendship but a symbiotic twinning. It is an organic affinity that is not just geographical, but predicated on shared religions, cultural practices, family linkages, linguistic commonalities, economic interlinkages, political understanding between two democracies, and much more. Suffice it to say that our two countries share a precious and everlasting harmonious understanding cemented by the ideals of great visionaries like Lord Buddha, Emperor Ashoka, Arahat Mahinda, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. The cross-cultural encounters between our two countries have led to cross pollination of ideas, cultures and identities. Anagarika Dharmapala, the great son of Sri Lanka, is one such figure who symbolizes the cultural inter linkages between India and Sri Lanka. Both countries can lay claim on this great Buddhist Revivalist, whose reformist efforts have been acknowledged the world over. It was indeed befitting that as part of the joint celebration of his 150th birth anniversary, Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, released a commemorative postage stamp on Anagarika Dharmapala at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 25, 2014.

10.   Close civilizational links have promoted vibrant people to people contacts between the two countries over the ages, which in turn have translated in recent years into large tourist inflows from India and vice versa. India has also become a preferred destination for affordable and quality education for Sri Lankan students. Currently, India offers about 290 scholarships to Sri Lankan students for higher studies in India and about 500 scholarships for studies in Sri Lanka. In my view, and as Ananda Coomaraswamy espoused, these links can be fostered by a contemporary web of communication and travel.

11.   It is in that vein that India is implementing the Northern Railway Reconstruction Project on a priority basis. The reconstruction of the railway line up to Jaffna, carried out under a concessional Indian Line of Credit of about US$ 800 million, was a seminal moment. With the inauguration of this segment of the railway track, the "Yal Devi" Express that used to ply on this route, resumed its services to Jaffna, reconnecting Jaffna to Colombo by rail after more than 24 years. On January 2, 2015, the railway track up to Kankesanthurai was inaugurated connecting northern and southern parts of the country. The railway line up to Talaimannar would be completed in the very near future. We are also working for resumption of ferry services between Colombo and Tuticorin and between Talaimannar and Rameshwaram, which will enhance connectivity and make travel easier. I look forward to a time when a passenger can board a train in Kataragama in southern Sri Lanka and travel to Srinagar, a city founded by Emperor Ashoka, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Greater connectivity will only further bind our two countries and our peoples in a relationship that the late Hon’ble Lakshman Kadirgamar had so eloquently described as one of “irreversible excellence”. 

12.   India and Sri Lanka enjoy a vibrant and growing economic and commercial partnership, with both trade and investment expanding sharply in recent years. I believe that the economic component of our bilateral relations will be the defining feature in the years ahead. The India – Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in 2000 has proved to be a real engine of growth for bilateral commercial interaction, bringing significant benefits to both sides. Bilateral trade witnessed an upswing in 2014 and as per figures of Sri Lankan Customs, in the period January- November 2014, bilateral trade amounted to nearly US$ 4 billion.

13.  Robust trade in goods has promoted bilateral investment. Premier Indian companies have displayed great interest in Sri Lanka, investing in the country across sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, services, and construction. The cumulative FDI approvals for Indian investments stand at around US$ 1 billion since 2003. In keeping with this trend, in May 2014 the ground breaking ceremony of the Tata Housing project took place, which involves redevelopment of an eight-acre plot of land in Slave Island in cooperation with the Urban Development Authority. The ground breaking ceremony of the ‘ITC Colombo One’ project took place in November 2014 with ITC committing a total investment outlay of around US$ 300 million. I am certain that the ‘Make in India’ initiative will attract more Sri Lanka companies to invest in India. It is important that we now focus our attention on the investments and services sector. A quantum leap in our economic and commercial relations can be achieved by  focusing on increasing Sri Lanka’s export capacity through Indian investments and forging linkages across the production and supply chains of the two countries.

14.   One important pillar of India-Sri Lanka relations is development cooperation, which has been built on the foundation of mutual trust and understanding. The flagship Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka continues to make excellent progress, with the project reaching its target of constructing 16,000 houses during 2014. With the achievement of this important milestone, a total of 27,000 houses have been constructed under this project by the end of last year.

15.   India is committed to setting up a Faculty of Agriculture and one for Engineering at the Kilinochchi Campus of Jaffna University at a cost of SLR 600 million. We helped set up vocational training centres in Batticaloa and Nuwara Eliya and propose to set up one in the Vanni region. Our interventions in the health sector include the supply of high-value equipment to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and the district hospitals in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. We are in the process of implementing a project to construct a 200-bed ward complex for the District Hospital in Vavuniya. In the Central Province, we are nearing completion of a project to construct a 150-bed base hospital at Dickoya, Hatton. We have taken a number of initiatives to revive the local economy, including rehabilitating the Atchchuvely Industrial Zone, reviving the fishnet factory in Jaffna and setting up Handicrafts Villages in Hambantota and Jaffna.

16.   In the field of culture, we are in the process of setting up a state-of-the-art Cultural Centre that Jaffna will be proud of, at an estimated cost of SLR 1 billion. We are also renovating the Duraiappah Stadium, to give a fillip to sports activities in the Northern Province. All these projects illustrate the tangible benefits that can be achieved through South-South cooperation.

17.   The year 2014 marked the 10th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami. The close cooperation in the years that followed the tragedy demonstrated the solidarity between the two countries. Ten years on, it is heartening to see that the affected communities have been able rebuild their lives and start afresh. Lessons learned continue to influence and improve how the world responds to disasters today. India has taken numerous steps since 2004 to enhance its own early warning systems and improve disaster preparedness, and will continue to work with the Government of Sri Lanka in these areas. Timely Indian assistance to the victims of the tragic landslide in Koslanda in November and the floods in December 2014 is a reflection of our close cooperation in disaster relief.

18.   I would like to conclude on a note of optimism, imbued with hope on the trajectory that is being imparted to the bilateral relationship and the vast vistas of cooperation that beckon us. There is no doubt that the prosperity and security of our two countries are indivisible. India eagerly looks forward to working with the new Government of Sri Lanka to take our relationship to the next level for the benefit of the people of our two countries and the South Asian region as a whole.

Long live India-Sri Lanka friendship!

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