(Dinner is in honour of the Sri Lankan Independence Day, 4th February)

Col. R. Harindran, President of the Sri Lanka-India Society,Mr. Kiron B. Shenoy, Organiser of tonight's dinner meeting, Distinguished office-bearers of the Sri Lanka-India Society and friends,

It gives me great pleasure to be present at this dinner organized by the Sri Lanka-India Society (SLIS) to celebrate the Sri Lankan Independence Day which was marked on 4th of February, 2006.

I am glad to note that the SLIS is continuing its good work in fostering greater understanding between the peoples of India and Sri Lanka. I note that the Indira Gandhi Memorial Library project is being carried out successfully. I am happy to note that sets of books will be presented to three schools in Sri Lanka with the worthy objective of expanding the knowledge of the students about India and fostering the reading habit among school children. I trust that the goodwill mission that the Society will be taking to India will come to fruition very soon. An exchange of visits between friendship societies in both our countries can provide opportunities for brainstorming for both the Societies to come up with newer ideas on promoting goodwill between the two countries.

I take this opportunity of felicitating the three members of the Society who have recently been awarded national honours - Prof. M.T.A. Furkhan who has been awarded the title of Deshmanya, Mr. Mano Selvanathan who has also been awarded the title of Deshmanya and Mr. Tilak de Soyza who has been awarded the title of Deshbandhu. My deepest congratulations to all three of you and I hope that the Society and its members will continue to grow rich with honours in the time to come.

Pandit Nehru once said it is quite inevitable that there should be the closest relationship and cooperation between India and Sri Lanka. Geography compels it. Our history and common culture make it inevitable. Today the bandwidth of engagement is broader than ever and the frequent high-level contact between our two leaderships is testimony to our close ties. We have had the important and successful visit of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, to India. This was his first visit overseas after assuming the office of President and resulted in agreements in a number of areas. Trade and people-to-people contacts, of which your society is a living example, continue to scale new heights. India today is the largest source of Sri Lankan imports and its third largest export destination. India is also the third largest investor in Sri Lanka. While FTA was and remains an important stepping stone, we are now working towards graduating to a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. Our bilateral economic relations have set a benchmark for the SAARC region.

Ladies and gentlemen, India continues to support and encourage the efforts of the Government and people of Sri Lanka to consolidate the processes of peace and development in their country. We welcome the holding of talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE in Geneva on 22/23 February 2006 and the announcement that the next round will take place in April. We are also happy to note that both sides have renewed their commitment to respecting and upholding the Ceasefire Agreement. Peace is important for Sri Lanka's development and for the well-being of all her communities.

I would like to take this opportunity to inform the members of the Sri Lanka India Friendship Society of the many projects that the Government of India is undertaking in Sri Lanka. Government of India is developing the Colombo-Matara rail network. We aim to provide a fully modernized rail network in this sector drawing upon the valuable expertise of the Government of India in this area. The Government of Sri Lanka will soon be setting up a joint working group to supervise the progress and implementation of this project.

Government of India is providing a grant of US$ 7.5 million to set up a cancer hospital in Colombo. We are also modernizing and upgrading the base hospital at Trincomalee. In Dickoya in the upcountry area, Government of India is adding a 100-bed hospital to the existing hospital at a cost of US$ 5 million. We are providing state-of-the-art medical equipment to the tsunami-affected hospitals in Hambantota in the south and Point Pedro in the north.

We have also recently announced the establishment of the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship Scheme for Sri Lankan students. You may have read of this in the press recently. We will be selecting a hundred students every year from all parts of Sri Lanka and they will be granted SLR 1,500/- every month to assist them with their studies. Each scholar will receive the scholarship for two years. Thus, several ‘O' level students will be receiving this benefit at a crucial time in their studies.

In response to a long-standing demand of persons of Indian origin settled abroad, Government of India decided to institute the Overseas Indian Citizenship some time ago. I am glad to announce that several persons of Indian origin in Sri Lanka have recently been granted the Overseas Indian Citizenship. This citizenship provides many benefits to its holders, including a lifetime visa to India, the right to buy urban property in India and rights to avail of certain educational services in India.

Our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has emphasized the importance of the global community of Persons of Indian Origin in the following quote from his speech delivered at the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas or Overseas Indian Day on 7th January, 2006 - "To my mind, the most important aspect of re-connecting with the world is for us to reach out to People of Indian Origin. The NRIs and the PIOs are the most important elements of our globalization. There is a fundamental difference between the globalization of India and may other developing countries. For us, globalization is a natural means of linking up with the international community of Indians. As I said last year, if there is one phenomenon in the world over which the sun truly never sets, it is the phenomenon of the global community of people of Indian origin".

I may mention that the Hon'ble Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi has launched an interactive portal for the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs on 27th February, 2006. This is the electronic version of the monthly magazine ‘The Overseas Indian' which was launched by our Prime Minister in January this year. The online edition of the magazine will appear in English and seven other Indian languages, Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Telugu, Punjabi, Tamil and Urdu. This magazine will cover news, views and events related to Overseas Indians and activities undertaken by Ministry for Overseas Indian Affairs.

I am confident that the SLIS will be able to maintain its momentum in the various activities it has undertaken. I look forward to more interactions with the Society in the time ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a toast -

• to H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,

• to friendship and amity between the peoples of India and Sri Lanka