The High Commission of India celebrated the 58th Republic Day of India on 26th January 2007

The Celebrations began with the hoisting of the National flag by the High Commissioner Mr. Alok Prasad at the India House. The High Commission's security contingent offered him a guard of honour and the national anthem of India was then sung with great fervour and enthusiasm. Mr. Prasad read out excerpts from the address to the Nation by Hon' President of India Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam to a large gathering of Indian nationals assembled at India House. The morning function ended with a spread of delicious Indian snacks.

The evening reception to commemorate the occasion at India House was a grand event. Cabinet Ministers, business leaders, community leaders, heads of diplomatic missions, performing artistes and noted luminaries from all walks of life attended this reception.

The Hon'ble Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights was the chief guest at the reception and was a representative of the Government of Sri Lanka. Both the High Commissioner and Hon'ble Minister spoke on the occasion outlining the strong friendship between the two countries.

The reception was enlivened by a beautiful Kathak dance recital 'Bho Shambo' presented by Ms. Geetanjali Lal and her accompanying artistes.

High Commissioner's message on Republic Day 2007

On the 58th Republic Day of India, I extend my greetings and good wishes to all my compatriots and to the Government and the people of our friendly neighbour, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

The last 57 years have seen India mature socially, economically and politically. What used to be described as India's democratic "experiment" is now looked on by the world with a sense of wonder. India's pluralistic, secular polity has weathered every challenge in the last 57 years. Its democratic institutions have emerged more robust, more inclusive and more responsive to the needs of our people.

The Indian economy is today registering the fastest growth in our history, exceeding 8% for the last three successive years. And the growth is accelerating. For March-December 2006 the economy grew at well over 9 %. India is well on track to achieving double digit sustained growth as envisioned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

While the Government is committed to doing everything to consolidate the rate of growth, there has also been a conscious effort to make the growth process more inclusive. We are introducing programmes to directly benefit people and sectors of the economy which have not fully benefitted from the growth momentum so far. There has been a special thrust to empower the less privileged sections of society and minorities and those living in conditions of extreme poverty. Between 1993 and 2004, the percentage of population living in poverty has declined from 36% to 28% and in the last three years the reduction of poverty is estimated to have been ever faster. In absolute terms this implies that over a 100 million people have been pulled out of the clutches of poverty.
Our economic growth does not make us complacent. The Prime Minister has articulated five challenges that will engage us over the next decade, both as a prerequisite for fast growth and as a consequence of it. These are: (i) revitalisation of the rural economy; (ii) improved delivery of essential public services; (iii) improved management of our urban areas; (iv) preparing our financial system for increased global integration; (v) establishing a regulatory culture to facilitate cost-effective private investment in infrastructure.

Over this same period of high growth, India has also been rapidly integrating with the global economy. While globalisation has created a wealth of new opportunities, it has also thrown up major challenges, particularly for those sections that tend to get marginalized. It is here that regional cooperation has a major role to play, to benefit from global impulses in a collective and measured manner while minimizing its negative consequences. India therefore intends to pay particular attention to regional economic cooperation.

A Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore became operational in 2005. We are currently negotiating an FTA with ASEAN which is likely to be finalized by July this year. India's participation in the East Asia Summit held recently at Cebu in Philippines reflects our growing bonds with our extended neighbourhood in the East. An observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is cementing our relations with our extended neighbourhood in the North.

In our immediate neighbourhood, we are engaged in the process of moving towards a closer knit SAARC region. Our countries are bound by age-old ties of history and culture. We need to complement this by forging a dynamic economic partnership. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said, "we have an opportunity to reclaim our legacy of interconnectedness to restore the natural exchange of goods, people and ideas that has characterized our shared South Asian space". That summarizes India's vision for the South Asian Region.

The forthcoming Fourteenth SAARC Summit to be held in New Delhi in April, 2007 provides a great opportunity to the process forward in concrete directions. We look forward to Sri Lanka's wholehearted and positive contribution.

In order to re-envigorate the SAARC process, we have to make the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA)truly effective. SAFTA serves as an incentive to our neighbours to link up with the robust Indian economic growth engine, to our collective and mutual benefit.

Within SAARC, our relationship with Sri Lanka has been very special. Sri Lanka has become India's largest trading partner in SAARC region. Bilateral trade, which was stagnating at US$ 500 million in the late 90s, crossed the US $ 2.2 billion mark in 2006. The six year old Free Trade Agreement has worked well for both countries. It has vastly enhanced trade volumes, and also reduced the ratio of India's exports to Sri Lanka's exports significantly. India is the largest source of imports and the third largest export destination for Sri Lanka. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which is currently being negotiated, is expected to sustain and build on the momentum generated by the FTA and take the two economies beyond trade in goods towards greater economic integration and enhanced interaction in areas like services and investment.

India attaches the highest importance to its relations with Sri Lanka. The strength of our bilateral relationship lies in the bonds of friendship of over two millennia between the peoples of the two countries. The political leadership continues to nurture this friendship through sustained interaction and sharing of views on developments in our respective countries and in the world at large. The exchange of several high-level visits over the past few months, in particular that of H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in November 2006, provided an important opportunity for continuing exchange of views, and strengthening bilateral cooperation.

As a close friend of Sri Lanka we have an abiding interest in peace, stability and development in this country so that it is able to harness the fruits of development taking place in our region and beyond.

We are committed to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Our firm belief is that the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka has to be resolved through a negotiated political settlement acceptable to all sections of the Sri Lankan society and consistent with the principles of democracy, pluralism and human rights.

Bilateral economic and commercial relations between India and Sri Lanka are multi-faceted. The wide swath of our economic engagement includes buoyant trade, investments, services, infrastructure development, technical training and extension of lines of credit.

It has been decided that NTPC, in a joint venture with CEB, will work on setting up a 500 MW coal based power plant in Trincomalee at an investment of $ 500 million. We are also discussing refurbishment of the southern railway corridor from Colombo to Matara under an Indian line of credit of US $ 100 million. The Indian participation in development of information and communication technology and oil and natural gas is also progressing.

Investments in India by Brandix, MAS and Ceylon Biscuits are positioning Sri Lankan companies to take advantage of the huge Indian market and as a base for their further outreach internationally. This trend of mutual investments, trade and economic partnership is a very positive development which needs to be encouraged and sustained.

Our greatest strengths in both Sri Lanka and India is our talented and hard working people. We should give them every advantage to succeed in the world of the 21st Century. It is of considerable significance therefore that the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship Scheme was launched on October 2, 2006 in Sri Lanka; 100 Sri Lankan students were awarded these scholarships. In association with the Ministry of Education, Government of Sri Lanka, the students were selected from all the 25 districts of Sri Lanka on means-cum-merit basis. The selected scholars will receive financial assistance of Rs. 1500/- per month for a period of two years to enable them to pursue their 'A' level courses. A new set of 100 scholarships will be granted every year.
The High Commission of India also awards 75 scholarships to Sri Lankan nationals for pursuing under-graduate and post-graduate courses in various reputed institutes and universities in India. Indian Cultural Centre, Colombo awards nearly 12 scholarships to Sri Lankan students to follow under graduate courses in music, dance and fine arts.
India and Sri Lanka have had cultural links through the ages. This interaction has mutually enriched both our societies'. Common cultural impulses with India abound in all parts of Sri Lanka. I am glad therefore that our cultural cooperation has continued with a renewed vigour the last few months. Art India, an exhibition showcasing the works of art of 31 Indian artists, painters and sculptors, was jointly organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi of India and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs & National Heritage, Government of Sri Lanka in September 2006. A 10-member Kathak troupe headed by Pt. Jai Krishan Maharaj visited Sri Lanka also in September 2006 to participate in the National Literary Arts Festival of the Government of Sri Lanka. I am also glad that a 12-member Sri Lankan dance troupe participated in the Navratri dance festival organized by the Government of Gujarat in October 2006.

It is well recognized that there are obstacles today to the full attainment by Sri Lanka of her goals of peace, prosperity and equitable development for her people. India can be divorced neither from her strife nor her suffering. I would like to quote from our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's public speech in July 1939 in what was then Madras - "Any person who looks at the map can realize that it is not conceivable in any scheme of things for India and Ceylon to be cut away from each other." This basic fact of geography, history and culture is even more true today. We stand with Sri Lanka as she endevours to find a fair, just and equitable solution to her problems. As Sri Lanka's closest neighbour, we shall rejoice when peace, normalcy and development return to this most wondrously beautiful island.

DEVELOPED INDIA Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The President of India 'I have three visions for India.

In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.

Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?

I have a THIRD vision.

India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.

I see four milestones in my career:

Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.

After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.

The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.

The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram Calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them.

Why?

We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self - sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture Of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE ? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied:

I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.

YOU say that our laws are too old.

YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.

YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say.

What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - OURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are.

You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the Parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity.

In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.' YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo?

Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.

This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room Protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how it will matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?

What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Let's do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.

Thank you Abdul Kalam

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Speech of hon'ble minister of water resources in the workshop on 'rain water harvesting' organised at kandy, sri lanka dated 27th september, 2006

Respected Hon'ble Minister of Urban Development and Water Supply, Government of Sri Lanka Mr. DINESH GUNAWARDANE, my Ministerial colleagues, participants from different countries, Ladies & Gentlemen.

I feel greatly privileged to be here today on the occasion of inauguration of this workshop on a very important subject of Rain Water Harvesting. Rain Water Harvesting, as you are aware, is not only essential in Southern Asia, but all over the globe.

Water is the basis of all living ecosystems and habitats and part of an immutable hydrological cycle that must be respected if the development of human activity and well being is to be sustainable. Only 2.5% of the water available on the earth is fresh, of which two-third is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. Ground water constitutes about 30% of the available fresh water on the earth. Water is indeed a precious resource which needs to be managed carefully.

Since Independence in our country, we have made vast strides in developing our water resources in a big way and strove successfully to meet the aspirations of our populace to a satisfactory level. We can be proud of our past achievements in terms of developing and managing our water resources, despite sharp increases in demand due to improved living standard and manifold rise in population. Water resources sector, like in every walk of life, is constantly evolving and challenging. We have to be alert and thoughtful in such a way so that traditional wisdom and modernity go hand in hand to benefit wide section of our society. A lot more is required to be done. It is necessary to concentrate on adoption of best management practices to ensure efficient utilization of created facilities. These objectives can be achieved only if all the sections of the society join hand and play active role. In view of the reducing per capita availability of water resources, we have to give the message about the scarcity value of fresh water and urgent need to conserve it and preserve its quality. It is necessary that all concerned with development and management of water resources i.e. Government and Non-Government Organizations including Industrial Houses etc. come together and work unitedly in understanding the related issues and addressing them in proper perspective.

The green revolution in India during the post independence era has led to rapid development of the country's water resources for irrigation. Economic development of the country has led to increased demands of water for various sectors. Irrigation remains the largest use of water, accounting for 80% of fresh water abstracted. More than 50% of irrigation requirements are met through ground water. For domestic supplies, however, ground water is much more important contributing about 85% in rural water supply and above 50% in urban water supply. Industrial water supply is widely provided by ground water as it is usually cheaper and more reliable than municipal piped water supplies. Ground water thus plays a significant role in sustaining both the general development and economic growth of the country.

Increasing pace of ground water development to meet the growing demands of water in agriculture, industrial and domestic sectors, has brought problems of over-exploitation of the resource, continuously declining water levels, seawater ingress in coastal areas and ground water pollution in different parts of the country. The falling ground water levels in various parts of the country have threatened the sustainability of ground water resource, as water levels have gone deep beyond the economic lifts of pumping. The speedy and uncontrolled development of ground water resources has resulted into increase in over-exploited and critical/dark blocks.

As natural replenishment of ground water reservoir is slow and is unable to keep pace with the excessive continued exploitation of ground water resources in various parts of the country, there is an urgent need to augment the natural supply of ground water through artificial recharge of ground water. Roof top rainwater harvesting can also be adopted to meet domestic water requirements. This water can be stored in specifically constructed surface or sub-surface tanks.

The most feasible option to harvest the rain water is at place, where we get it and store it. Rain water harvesting is a tool to utilize the enormous volume of rainfall which otherwise goes as waste.

Water conservation has been practiced even in earlier times. Ancient texts of India like Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana, contain references to the water conservation and harvesting. There are ample references to the management of natural water resources in Kautilya's Arthshastra written in 3rd Century B.C. Rig Veda also mentions the construction of artificial canals to irrigate desert areas. During Harappan period, there was an efficient system of water management as is evident from the latest excavations conducted at Dholavira in Kachch district of Gujarat. It had several reservoirs to collect monsoon runoff and had an excellent drainage system. During Tuglak and Mughal period, water conservation also assumed importance. Feroz Shah Tuglaq (1351-1388 AD), stands out or his public works, particularly for building irrigation canals, several dams across rivers, reservoirs for irrigation and repair works. Delhi had numerous baolis (steeped wells) and dams.

Since long the rain water harvesting has been the part of the Indian traditions and over centuries, Indians have developed a range of techniques to harvest rain water. The traditional structures vary from state to state. In hilly and high rainfall areas, general practice is roof top rain water collection and storage. In Rajasthan, underground tanks and embankments are constructed whereas in southern states, weirs, ponds, open wells are constructed for the purpose of rain water harvesting.

The need for conservation of ground water has been emphasized in urban areas. The roof top rainwater harvesting is proposed both by augmenting the ground water storage as well as by storing it in specially built tanks. It is estimated that 37 lakh roof top rainwater-harvesting structures are feasible in the country.

In India, a number of programmes have been initiated for water conservation and rain water harvesting through central & state govt. agencies. There are certain States where rain water harvested in every house like in the State of Mizoram. In States like Rajasthan and Gujarat, which are drought prone states, peoples are increasingly realizing the importance of rain water harvesting. As a result of this awareness, these states have been able to achieve significant improvement in the availability of water for drinking and other purposes. Voluntary Organizations and Individuals have also contributed significantly in promoting rain water harvesting.

For implementing Artificial Recharge to Ground Water on large scale, there is a need of co-ordination between various Central and State Government Agencies/ Institutions and community in funding and implementing schemes, if maximum benefits are to be obtained from such schemes. This will help in proper utilization of available funds and use of appropriate technology.

Till recently artificial recharge to ground water has been implemented mainly through the efforts of the Government. Of late NGOs and VOs have taken a quantum leap and have done commendable work in selected areas in different parts of the country. A mechanism should be evolved for continuous interaction among Central/ State Government Agencies, local bodies, NGO's, VO's and community for optimal development and management of ground water resources. Government Organizations should come forward for providing technical and financial support through NGOs and VOs who in turn will ensure optimum utilization of funds for deriving maximum benefits from schemes on artificial recharge to ground water. This mechanism will also generate additional employment opportunities for local populace.

People's participation and social acceptance is essential for popularizing artificial recharge to ground water. The strategies for generating awareness, education and capacity building should be focused. Visits need to be organized for water harvesting functionaries and other Self Helf Group members to other villages for exposure to best practices for their motivation. Implementation of demonstrative projects on artificial recharge to ground water in Government offices, Agricultural Farms, Educational and Research Institute, for dissemination of technology by example.

Local bodies like Municipalities, Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishads need to be involved in the programme for ensuring better results.

With a view to protect ground water regime and taking safeguard measures against hazards of over-exploitation and to ensure equitable distribution of the vital and limited resource, enactment of suitable legislation to regulate and control the development of ground water is felt necessary.

A collective step is, therefore, need to evolve a pragmatic policy to improve , utilize, augment and preserve the precious ground water resources and for that, I hope, a collective wisdom emerges here during our interaction, to achieve our goal of water for all.

I wish this Workshop on ' Rain Water Harvesting' a great success.

Thank you.

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Speech delivered by Mr. P.Chidambaram , union finance minister on the occasion of launching of india-lanka chamber of commerce and industries at colombo on 13th september 2006

Hon. Minister of Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development of Sri Lanka Mr Rohitha Bogollogama, Governer, Central Bank, Mr N.Cabraal , President, Indian Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Mr. Mano Selvanathanam, President, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Dayananda, Chairman, India Sri Lanka joint Business council, Mr. Tilak de Zoysa, High Commissioner, Mrs. Nirupama Rao, Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Manikam, Members of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, The Joint Business Council and the Indo Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry,

Some children are not named soon after birth. In fact , I Know of some cases where children are named even 2 or 3 years after they are born. It is a pleasure to be invited to inaugurate the Indo Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industries and though I know that this inauguration has been waiting for nearly 2 years and in the last 2 years, as my good friend Mr. Bogollagama just mentioned, India-Sri Lanka relations have taken several steps forward and in inaugurating this Chamber we are in a way celebrating the progress made in the last 2 years.

Our countries have enjoyed close relations over many centuries. The level of economic co-operation that we witness today is a natural progression of the good relations that we have had. Only 6 years ago we signed an agreement for Free Trade, perhaps more accurately, sheer trade. Trade not entirely free! The effort must be to make it freer and freer. When we did that, the level of trade was about 650 million dollars. Through centuries of trade, we reached this level of 650 million dollars. The first billion was crossed in 2002 . The second billion in less than 3 years in 2005 and the way in which the trade is growing in 2006, I am confident that the 3rd billion will be crossed sometime in the next calendar year.

That gives you the flavour, the kind of energy and enterprise that is driving trade between the two countries. The indicators speak for themselves:

• India is the largest source of imports for Sri Lanka.
• India is the 2nd largest investor in Sri Lanka and
• India is the 3rd largest destination for Sri Lankan exports

90% of Sri Lankan exports to India are under the Free Trade Agreement.
45% of Indian exports to Sri Lanka are under the Free Trade Agreement.

Both countries have benefited and both countries are confident that they will continue to benefit by free and fair trade We will benefit even more greatly if we are able to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement(CEPA). The structure of our economies is more or less the same. A little over ½ being accounted for by services, a little less that ¼ is accounted by agriculture and the remainder by investments and in a way, your growth rates mirrors our growth rates. In the first quarter of your financial year 2006, you recorded a growth rate of 8.16%. In the first quarter of our financial year of April-March 2006-2007, although the figures are not out, I am confident that we will record a growth rate of approximately 8% . So, two growing economies tied to each other by history, cultural relations, geography, the opportunities for growing are great! And I am confident that we will seize these options!

I am happy that many Indian companies have come to do business in Sri Lanka. Some of our best known companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Tata, Apollo, which the Minister mentioned, ICICI- our largest private sector bank, CEAT, BSNL are all here. In civil aviation, tourism and banking we have strong relationships. As the minister mentioned, a comprehensive economic partnership agreement has the potential to transform the bilateral economic landscape by further unleashing the inherent synergies between the two countries.

Credit for propelling the India Sri Lanka economic relationship must go to a large measure to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber particularly the special India Sri Lanka desk has played an important role in imparting momentum to our economic engagements .The new chamber or the chamber that we inaugurated here has not only benefited from the existence of the CCC but also establishes new bonds and bridges to take us to heights not reached so far.

In the matrix of India's economic relations with its neighbours in the SAARC region, needless to say that Sri Lanka occupies a very important place. Our relations with SAARC, if I may say, can be described as WTO plus and our relationship with Sri Lanka can be described as SAARC plus. A flourishing bilateral trade between India and Sri Lanka clearly shows that FTA is a win-win agreement. I am confident CEPA will also be a win-win agreement.

Many other developments have taken place and I think it is worthwhile to mention some of them:-
• Firstly, the number of tourists from India to Sri Lanka has increased tremendously and in 2005 I believe 130,000 Indian tourists arrived in Sri Lanka .
• 90 flights per week connect each country
• Flights to 9 destinations in India and more destinations likely to be added .

Even as these initiatives take root, we must not lose sight of the weaknesses and the deficiencies that till characterize India-Sri Lanka relations. We recognize that given the size of the two economies, there is an asymmetry. But it is this very asymmetry that drove us to conclude an FTA. And it is this asymmetry which drives us to conclude the CEPA. So let me assure all gathered here that we are conscious of this asymmetry and it is because of this asymmetry that we are keen to conclude a CEPA with Sri Lanka so that Sri Lanka can benefit as India will benefit from our economic engagement.

We have offered quotas to Sri Lanka in many commodities and I understand that some of these quotas have not been utilized. I would urge the Sri Lankan industry and trade to please take steps to utilize these quotas. There is also some unfinished business with the FTA. Duty concessions on 2,724 items were to increased from 35% to 70% from March 2006. Perhaps there are some constraints on the part of Government of Sri Lanka but I am confident that both President Rajapaksa and the ministers concerned will address these issues as early as possible.

CEPA has ambitious goals. Among the goals are:

• To create a liberal, transparent and competitive regime.
• To revise the BIPA and the DTAA and to include it under CEPA
• To identify priority areas of investment and
• To engage in investment promotion

Other goals are :
To expand trade in goods, to deepen co-operation in areas like education, tourism, biodiversity, IPR, Ayurveda , sports, agriculture etc., to move to a regime for services that will be based on a broad framework and to identify other sectors of co operation like telecom, construction, engineering, ICT and to expand cooperation in the financial services sector.

The whole world beckons us. The new world will be a great benefit to both India and Sri Lanka. And we would also have led by example, other countries in the region. I am confident that the two governments will seriously engage themselves to conclude CEPA as early as possible. In my short visit to Colombo, I am happy that I had the opportunity to meet the leaders of trade and industry.

I have great pleasure in formally inaugurating this already well established Indo Lanka chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Thankyou.

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Speech of the Finance Minister of India  delivered on the occasion of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting at Colombo on 13th Sept., 2006

13/09/2006

IMF/World Bank issues

Distinguished Finance Ministers, the Secretary General, other Heads of delegations, members of the delegations and the officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat:

Distinguished Finance Ministers, the Secretary General, other Heads of delegations, members of the delegations and the officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat:

Let me at the outset express my sincere thanks to the Government of Sri Lanka for their gracious hospitality and excellent arrangements.

2.The IMF and the World Bank have been with us now for six decades: advising, cautioning, cajoling, and lending to the nations of the world. While we acknowledge the role played by the two institutions, we also note that there are issues concerning their structure and management. On the issues of immediate concern - especially on the eve of the Annual Meeting - we need to focus on three aspects. First, participation in the management of these institutions has to undergo a change to reflect the current global realities more accurately. A flawed structure will increasingly undermine the effectiveness of these institutions. Second, the challenge before the world today is to meet the increasing aspirations of the vast majority of the people for freedom from hunger and for the bare minimum necessities of health and education. Third, there is a growing urge among the member countries to negotiate the development curve in a compressed time frame. The relevance of the IMF and the World Bank would eventually be determined by their ability to play a meaningful role in these areas.

The IMF Issues
Quota and Voice

3.My Government firmly believes that any exercise intended to enhance the credibility and legitimacy of the IMF has to be based on fundamental reforms in the quota structure. India has always held that the developing world deserves to have much greater 'Voice' in the management of the International Financial Institutions.

4.It is widely believed that the present 'Quota' formula of the IMF is hopelessly flawed and outdated. Obviously, an ad hoc quota redistribution based on this flawed formula cannot provide a durable solution. We need a consensus on a new formula. And we need it quickly. There must be a deep commitment to fundamental reform and there should be no postponement of a comprehensive review.


5. The Managing Director's Report states that the new formula should clearly reflect the economic strengths of countries. This is something all developing economies strongly endorse, and I urge you to join me in Singapore to articulate our united view on this matter. The issue of implementing a new quota formula is also linked to amendments to the Articles of the IMF on Basic Votes. I am hopeful that we shall all be together - united, strong and persuasive - in proposing a road map which enhances the 'Voice' of the developing community, and that a consensus on this will emerge at Singapore.

The Fund's role in the Low-Income Countries (LICs)
6.We expect that the Fund will continue to remain fully engaged in the multilateral effort to help its low-income member countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and address the issues of ensuring debt sustainability with supportive policies. We welcome positive developments in the Fund's policy advice to LICs which is becoming more focused on sustainable growth. We also appreciate the Fund's proactive approach towards the implementation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and the development of an operative Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) for low-income countries.

The Fund's Role in Emerging Market Economies
7. Many emerging market economies have raised significant amounts in the international capital markets. There is a need to safeguard these economies from any vulnerability to changes in market sentiments or reversal of capital flows. Clearly, a mechanism to provide liquidity support to such countries in the event of a contingency would go a long way in preventing a crisis. In this context, we do see the need for a high access contingent financing instrument.

Surveillance
8. We note the Fund's work on deepening financial sector soundness and capital flows with particular emphasis on vulnerability. At the same time, we ought to recognize that there is a wide diversity in the level of development of the financial sector across Fund membership. A 'one-size-fits-all' approach would not be appropriate. Surveillance, however, should be even-handed and also cover spill-over effects of systemically important countries.

The World Bank issues
9. Moving on to the World Bank related issues, I would say that there is an unusual focus on governance and anti-corruption issues in the Bank's strategy. The Bank proposes to integrate it into the operational policies of all its affiliated institutions. We recognize the importance of this issue in the development dialogue. However, we would be unhappy if the new focus tends to obscure or negate the Bank's historical 'development-centric' approach.

10.Being multi-dimensional, governance requires a customized response to the relevant issues in each country, based on local knowledge and possibilities. We must not lose sight of the risk of overemphasizing governance issues to the detriment of the Bank's core mission. We cannot abandon countries with somewhat weak governance structures and ask them to wait indefinitely. The Bank must recognize that fortifying country systems and institutions for governance and anticorruption is the only way to effect sustainable improvement. It should also be remembered that governance improvement is a continuous process and there are no short cuts to governance.

Fiscal policy for growth and development

11. Admittedly, infrastructure deficit is one of the major impediments to growth in many developing countries. While well-targeted investment in the infrastructure sector by the governments will continue to be an imperative, there is a need to increasingly engage the private sector in this endeavour through innovative approaches, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). India has been experimenting with PPP in recent years. Our experience has been quite encouraging. The Bank can help in devising suitable interventions which will help bridge the infrastructure gap. Some steps have been taken to increase the Bank's participation in infrastructure development in developing countries. Clearly, there is a need to do more.

The World Bank's engagement with Middle-Income Countries (MICs)
12. Over 70 per cent of the world's poor live in the Middle Income Countries (MICs). The Bank has to remain actively engaged with these countries. This is essential for the fight against poverty to succeed. Over the last few years, to address the concerns of MICs, the Bank has taken some steps such as reducing project processing time and offering a wider menu of financing instruments. However, a lot of ground still remains to be covered. The issues such as over-design of projects, transaction costs and lending rates need to be addressed.
13. Let me end by reiterating that I believe that structural reform reflecting the current global realities will invigorate the operations of the IMF and World Bank. This will also provide a decisive impetus to our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. I am sure the deliberations in this august forum will pave the way for consensus on this issue, and that the consensus that we may reach here in Columbo will be articulated when we gather again in Singapore.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

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In response to a question regarding the statement made by the Sri Lankan Minister of Tourism

07/09/2006

In response to a question regarding the statement made by the Sri Lankan Minister of Tourism Mr. Anura Bandaranaike in Sri Lankan Parliament alleging that our High Commissioner in Colombo Mrs. Nirupama Rao interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, the Official Spokesperson said:

'It is not the policy of Government of India and its representative abroad to interfere in the internal affairs of any country. Our High Commissioner in Colombo Mrs. Nirupama Rao is a senior diplomat and has conducted herself in accordance with the highest professional standards. Her contribution to strengthen Indo-Sri Lankan bilateral relations is well appreciated by the host Government.'

New Delhi
September 7, 2006

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INDIA AND SRI LANKA: FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS
Speech by Dr. Karan Singh, M.P.,
President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations for the
First Lakshman Kadirgamar Commemorative Lecture,
Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall,
Colombo, Sri Lanka,
10 August 2006

India and Sri Lanka: Friends and Neighbours

Foreign Minister Mangala Sameeraweera, senior Ministers of the Government of Sri Lanka, Honourable Members of Parliament, Excellencies, distinguished guests, members of the Kadirgamar family, ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be in Sri Lanka again, revisiting this beautiful country after many years. I hold fond memories of this land and its peoples, many of who are dear friends. Being here in this verdant city of Colombo makes me recall Pandit Nehru's words of praise for this country, "It is ever afternoon there as the summer breezes blow and rustle through the graceful palm trees."

I am honoured to address this distinguished audience gathered in homage to the memory of the late Honourable Lakshman Kadirgamar, one of the greatest sons of independent Sri Lanka. His contribution to Sri Lanka's dignified, determined and democratic response to the challenge of terrorism is immeasurable, as is his contribution to the development of relations with India, both as Foreign Minister and as Advisor on Foreign Policy to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. It is to him that we owe the phrase 'irreversible excellence" that we often use to describe the current status of our ties.

Sri Lanka and India are pluralistic global communities that share much in common - our antiquity and traditions, our plurality and diversity, our commitment to democracy and human rights. We are inextricably intertwined in many ways - in history, in culture, in religion, in commerce and in politics. Our sharing has roots that go down deep, to our creation-tales, myths and narratives. Our mythical histories are as rich as our actual ones. We have legends and tales for every occasion to enrich our lives. Let us recall that the two great religions that flourish in Sri Lanka - Buddhism and Shaivite Hinduism - originated in India, as did your, two great communities - the Singhalas and the Tamils. Let us also recall that the great Indian Emperor Ashoka sent his own son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to spread Buddhism in Sri Lanka in 246 BC. These are links which will forever endure, regardless of political and other factors.

Here I may mention something which will be of interest to Sri Lankans. In the Ramayana - although its author was Manarshi Valmiki, an Indian - it seems clear that Sri lanka was much more" prosperous than India." It was referred to as Swarnamayi Lanka (the golden Lanka), and contains graphic descriptions of the beautiful palaces and buildings that existed there several millennia ago. Another significant fact is that though King Ravana was a sworn enemy of Sri Rama, and ultimately met death at his hands; he was respected as a profound scholar and a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Indeed, although we have no extant writings of Sri Rama, a glorious Sanskrit hymn by Ravana addressed to Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Cosmic Dance, is still recited in thousands of temples and homes in India, and surely in Sri Lanka also. This clearly shows that our culture does not allow even the severest differences to cloud the intellectual and spiritual stature of our deadly opponents, what to say of our friends.

India and Sri Lanka are pluralistic societies - multi-regional, multi-linguistic, multi-cultural and multi-religious. India sustains itself through a gamut of languages that derive from the same roots and yet maintain their rich flavours. The same, on a smaller scale, is the case in Sri Lanka. We are culturally diverse communities, which believe in mutual respect and sensitivity to the variety and multiplicity, that is an integral part of our nature, our, society and our inheritance. the common strains; between Sri Lanka and India's forms of dance, music, musical instruments, literatures, religions, food, fabric, apparel, and so on, are living proof of the sharing that is so much a part of our mutual heritage.

We in India firmly believe in the strategic role that we are required to play in today's rapidly changing world. As a multicultural civilization with rich repositories of memories, refinement and values that are mature and distilled, we see ourselves as bearers of foundational ideals of special relevance to the modem world, ideas which demand a blend of the ancient and the contemporary, of the old and the new, of the past and the future. India is a model for pluralistic unity. Multiplicity is embedded in every aspect and detail of our lives and behaviour. This respect and sensitivity to diversity, and a conscious decision to allow for the freedom of variety to coexist peaceably and with dignity, is also enshrined in the Constitution of our country.

Relations between India and Sri Lanka are built on a solid bedrock of common culture, common spiritual values, a shared commitment to democracy and to independence in the conduct of foreign policy. As colonized nations in a post-colonial present, both India and Sri Lanka are boldly facing challenges that the global world presents today. We are consciously building on a common developmental experience. It is India's policy to maintain close, cordial and cooperative relations with Sri Lanka at both the popular and governmental levels. As the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi
said: "It is not mere geographical proximity which binds us. Ours is a relationship of heart and mind, finding expression in history and philosophy, literature and art, and in our contemporary concerns and daily lives." Today, more than ever, the bandwidth of our engagement for mutual benefit is wide and comprehensive. Our bilateral economic relations have shown considerable dynamism and innovation in the SAARC region, setting a benchmark for other countries to follow. The frequent high-level political dialogue between our two leaderships reflects our close ties.

We have an obvious interest in the ethnic issue, given that India is Sri Lanka's closest neighbour and we are culturally connected communities across the Palk Straits. India steadfastly supports the efforts being made by the government and people of Sri Lanka to consolidate the processes of peace and development In their country. India's support for a comprehensive negotiated settlement acceptable to all communities, and reflecting the pluralistic nature of Sri Lankan society, within the framework of a united and democratic Sri Lanka, remains undiluted.

Excellencies and friends, we appreciate your efforts to build a national consensus on a solution within a united Sri Lanka and on the basis of maximum devolution. We stand ready to share with you our own experience of unity in diversity, plural democracy and devolution. Our experience is that power sharing is a necessity for the effective management of diversity and pluralism in a multiethnic society. It is also necessary for the full enjoyment of democracy as well as maximum participation in the vast enterprise of development. A model of plural democracy and devolution has
been implemented in India which has stood the test of time, and its principles and benefits are surely relevant to Sri Lanka as well. We in India have also struggled with terrorism and the forces of separatism, having lost two Prime Ministers to the forces of fanaticism. We are of the view that firmness combined with dialogue and communication is the only way to overcome such aberrations. In the immortal words of the Buddha, 'Hatred is never banished by hatred. Hatred is banished only by love. This is the eternal law.

Acts of violence targetting innocent victims can have no justification or rationale. There is no grievance that can make us accept such behaviour, no political thesis or claim of "root causes" can be an adequate justification for terrorist actions. Our opposition to terrorism has to be firm and unwavering, resisting any temptation to compromise for tactical or political ends. Terrorism seeks to exploit the space offered by democratic societies, and to mislead those who equate accommodation and tolerance with weakness. We must not, however, allow terrorism to succeed in undermining the ancient humanist and civilizational values of South Asia, foremost among them being the celebration of diversity and the acceptance of pluralism as an existential
necessity.

The loss of Lakshman Kadirgamar shows that today, if there is fuller awareness of the dangers that threaten us, it has not been without a terrible price. The price has been paid, but the sacrifice must not be in vain. We have to build a new world from the debris of the past and harness all our creative energies at many levels in this effort, overcoming age-old conflicts-of boundaries and borders between and within nations. Our Regional Association - SAARC - should develop along the lines of the European Union, one of the most remarkable and positive developments of the twentieth century. Lakshman Kadirgamar's vision for bilateral and regional cooperation across South Asia must continue to guide us. India and Sri Lanka relations have a special role in the vast and noble enterprise of South Asian regional integration. There is no doubt that our people have benefited and will continue to do so from expanding trade and economic cooperation. Closer connectivity and interaction between our two economies is the way to a bright future of shared prosperity.

We would like Sri Lanka to be an important partner in our economic programme. The bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been hugely successful and has resulted in the trebling of bilateral trade in the last five years. Bilateral trade has crossed US$ 2 billion and the trade gap has vastly reduced. India is the third largest source of Sri Lanka's imports. Sri Lanka's exports have grown faster than imports from India and Sri Lankan Small Unit, Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in particular have benefitted from this dynamism. India was the largest foreign investor in Sir Lanka in 2002 and 2003 and FDI stock from India today is over US $ 400 million. Indian investments are contributing to employment generation, exports and skill, and technology development. Sri Lankan firms are now investing more in India. Cooperation in human resource development between our two countries is also growing.

Scholarships and training opportunities provided by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which I have the priviledge of heading, and other Indian institutions are helping Sri Lanka acquire critical skills that today's globalized economy needs. I am happy that our two nations have reiterated their desire to accelerate their cooperation in the field of human resource development and in the fashioning of educational policies appropriate for developing skills and capacities required in the twenty-first century. Towards this end it was agreed that the Joint Working Group under the
India-Sri Lanka MOD on the Education Exchange Programme would be operationalized very soon. Several measures funded by India to enhance cooperation in the field of education and training were also agreed upon. These include the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship scheme for 100 deserving Sri Lankan students every year, the upgradation of libraries and science laboratories Upcountry areas, the setting up of a Chair in Contemporary Indian Studies in the Peradeniya University, and the commissioning of a field study of vocational training centres.

To our traditional development, partnership, anchored in lines of credit, grant assistance and scholarships, we have recently added a framework for executing community-oriented small development projects. Our intention is to orient part of our assistance towards small scale, grassroots projects with a short gestation period, thus benefitting underpriviledged communities. Closer connectivity, interdependence and harmonization at the economic level between our two countries is the pattern that we seek for the future, the goal being the alleviation and finally abolition, of poverty which resulted from centuries of colonial domination and exploitation.

India and Sri Lanka are natural partners with a shared destiny. We need to work together to tackle international issues affecting us - poverty, climate change, terrorism, migration as well as economic growth and prosperity. India is the world's' largest democracy, and is emerging as a significant economic power, especially in the areas of IT, with significant achievements in many frontier areas of technology. Its middle class today numbers close to 300 million, and is growing. As one of the largest markets in the world, India seeks to strengthen its economic interaction with the rest of the world. India and Sri Lanka can be partners in the building of a new global order based on prosperity, respect for, human rights, tolerance, plurality and diversity, and the democratic order.

Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen; the India-Sri Lanka relationship is a model for the region. Our constant attempt is to look for mutually beneficial partnerships in diverse fields of activity, build even greater understanding and explore ways to bring our peoples even closer together. As plural nations both India and Sri Lanka seek to forge strong national identities while at the same time highlighting our common points, our shared memories and experiences. This awareness should be the lodestar in our quest for an even deeper and stronger friendship, with the potential to become the foundation for a region of peace and harmony.

In a world that is under continuous threat of becoming more rigid, inflexible and unyielding, we, as Indians, believe not in the Clash but in the
the Confluence of civilizations. We trust that Sri Lanka, as a friend and neighbour to India and as an important player in the global world, believes in this too. I wish the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of Strategic Studies and International Relations, inaugurated this morning by the Hon'ble President, every success. I trust that this Institute will help to further expand understanding of the very significant trends and developments in our region and the world, and provide space for " academics to reflect together on how best to advance the community of our shared interests.

Let me conclude, as I began, with the words of Jawaharlal Nehru when he spoke at a public reception in Colombo in January 1950: "... it seems to be 'quite inevitable and right 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..." Let that spirit of kinship continue to guide us in our journey forward with peace, boundless goodwill, friendship and mutual understanding as our constant companions

and let us work for a closer partnership between our two countries in the cause of peace, democracy and development. I will end with a traditional Hindu prayer to Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati, remover of obstacles, to help overcome
your current problems and move towards a Sri Lanka that flourishes on the basis of unity in diversity:

Gajananam Bhutaganadi Sevitam
Kapitjambhu Phal Charubhakhshanam
Umasutam Shokavinasha Karakam
Namami Vighneshwara Pada Pankajam

Aum Namah Shivaya
Buddham Sharanam Gachami.

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High Commissioner's message on Independence Day 2006

On the auspicious occasion of the 60th Independence Day of India, I extend my warm good wishes to my fellow Indians and to the Government and the people of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

India is today at the forefront of nations marching ahead into the modern, globalized world of tomorrow. It is not just the annual GDP growth rate of over 8%, the booming and highly diversified economy, the large pool of technically qualified manpower, the largest film and entertainment industry in the world, the growing list of book titles in a vibrant publishing industry or the independent and diversified free press, that alone contribute to India's position. Most crucially, it is the idea of India which accounts for our position in the world, the determination of our people to enhance productive enterprise and the unity in diversity that India represents. Indeed the civilizational oneness that characterises the Indian subcontinent makes the South Asian region one of abiding fascination and interest for the world.

At such a moment in our history, it would be useful to take stock of how far India has come from her early days after independence. The most striking change today is the economic progress made by India and also the nature of the economic expansion. The entrepreneur underpins India's success story. 30 to 40% of GDP growth rate is due to rising productivity - a true sign of an economy's health and progress - rather than merely due to increases in the amount of capital in the economy. India has internationally competitive private companies, a booming stock market and a modern, well-disciplined financial sector. Trade policy in India has lowered trade barriers and tax rates, exposed domestic industry to global competition and has opened up more and more of its sectors to foreign investment. Of the Fortune 500 companies, 125 now have research and development bases in India - thanks to the high quality of human resources available there. More and more Indian companies are investing in other countries and becoming world players. The recent example of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal's acquisition of the European steel firm of Arcelor comes to mind as Mittal's consolidated steel company will now be among the top three steel producers in the world. Indian business tycoon Vijay Mallya's company McDowell & Company has acquired French wine maker Bouvet Ladubay SAS, the wine subsidiary of French champagne house Taittinger, in another high value deal. It must be remembered however that the entire progress of the Indian economy rests on the hard working, resilient and innovative people of India.

Our people have time and again demonstrated the ability to rise above attempts to crush their spirit and have emerged from such crises with a renewed determination to fight anti- national forces. The aftermath of the inhuman terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Srinagar on 11th July 2006, attacks, which showed the utter disregard of terrorists for human lives, demonstrate clearly this resolve of the Indian people. These attacks claimed nearly 200 lives and have injured scores of others. I would like to quote here an excerpt from the resolution passed by the Indian Cabinet on this tragic occasion: "The Government reiterates its strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms. Nothing will deter us from our firm policy to fight this menace till it is wiped out. We are determined to apprehend and bring to justice all those responsible for the evil acts in Mumbai and Srinagar.
The Cabinet, simultaneously, pays tribute to the people of Mumbai and Srinagar for their resolve to triumph over terrorism and return quickly to normal life. The spontaneous response of Mumbai's citizens to provide succour to those in pain stands out strikingly. It is a towering example of fellowship and the best in human beings. The Cabinet also acknowledges the truly laudable work done in Mumbai by the public services, firemen, railway staff and medical personnel in providing relief.
The Cabinet recognizes the tremendous resolve, displayed over the years, by the people of Jammu and Kashmir to withstand terrorism. They have not let these influences impair our national unity and secular fabric. The spirit displayed by Mumbai and Srinagar has demonstrated very emphatically that terrorism cannot succeed. Such forces will never be allowed to check our nation's march to economic growth and prosperity."

The people of Sri Lanka have also demonstrated a similar resilience in surmounting the myriad challenges that face them. These challenges are growing. India has an abiding commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. We appreciate the Government's resolve to build a national consensus on a solution within a united Sri Lanka and on the basis of maximum devolution. We stand ready to share with Sri Lanka our own experience of unity in diversity, plural democracy and devolution.
Violence will only beget more violence and will vitiate the climate for political dialogue. The only way forward is a peaceful, negotiated settlement. We believe that today more than ever, special efforts are required to strengthen the ceasefire and work towards a devolution package that could command consensus among the major political parties, restore ethnic harmony and expeditiously address the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Sri Lankan society.
Our region is set to implement SAFTA which has become operational since 1 July 2006 this year. Provided that all member countries implement all the provisions of SAFTA in the right spirit, this development will ensure that prospects for regional trade and prosperity grow. India is negotiating a number of preferential trade agreements with countries and multi-lateral bodies such as ASEAN, Gulf Cooperation Council and the South African Development Community. India could thus become the engine for economic integration in the Indian Ocean Region.

Bilateral economic and commercial relations continue to take forward strides with trade crossing the US $ 2 billion mark in 2005. Bilateral trade has quadrupled in the last six years since the India-Sri Lanka FTA came into force in March 2000. India is the biggest source for Sri Lankan imports and accounts for almost 17% of total imports. India is also the third largest export destination. The trade gap while being in India's favour, has started narrowing. As compared to 10:1 in 2000, the ratio of Sri Lankan exports to its imports from India has come down to 2.4:1. About 90% of Sri Lanka's exports to India are under the FTA.

Indian investments in Sri Lanka have also showed similar progress catapulting India to the second position in terms of overall investments. Sri Lankan investments in India have also been on the rise. Sri Lankan brand names like Brandix, MAS, Dankotuwa, Munchee, Siddhalepa and Dilmah are gaining increasing recognition. India's commitment to socio-economic development in Sri Lanka is embodied by projects being undertaken under concessional lending schemes. These include refurbishment of the Colombo to Galle railway line, setting up of hospital at Dickoya and a cancer hospital in Colombo. The National Power Corporation, in a joint venture with Ceylon Electricity Board, is planning to set up a 500 MW power plant in Trincomalee.

Through schemes of technical cooperation under ITEC, BIMSTEC and Colombo Plan the Government of India provides 150 slots each year for pursuing professional short & medium courses in India.

India also accounts for the largest number of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka and with 90 weekly flights to India operating to 10 destinations, Sri Lankan Airlines is the largest foreign airline operating in India.
I am happy to announce that our two Governments are commencing implementation of the MoU on Small Development Projects, which is specially aimed at sharing our development expertise with rural communities. I am also happy to see the progress in agriculture cooperation, especially through the Model Farms being set up with Indian expertise to train rural youth in modern and sustainable agriculture. In the next months we will be setting up 20 IT centers around Sri Lanka, including in the North and the East, in collaboration with the Government of Sri Lanka. We hope that this would be the first step in long term collaboration in the IT field where India has proven strengths.
The Government of India is extending assistance to the Sri Lankan Government to implement a comprehensive project for upgrading the Colombo-Galle-Matara coastal railway line. The assistance was announced during the State Visit of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in December 2005. The project covers upgrading the tracks, bridges, signaling and induction of new passenger trains. When completed, the revamped coastal railway line system will substantially improve the rail services on the Colombo - Galle - Matara section and result in higher average speeds and increased number on train services.
A multi-disciplinary team of railway experts from RITES and IRCON, the overseas arms of the Indian Ministry of Railways for undertaking railway projects have completed work relating to the preparation of a feasibility study for the project. During their visit, the team called on high officials of the Sri Lankan Government. The Indian team made extensive site visits on the Colombo-Matara line with their counterparts of Sri Lanka Railways to draw up a detailed project implementation strategy for undertaking the coastal line upgrade and rehabilitation. The Indian Ministry of Railways had assured full support for the project including Human Resource Development and Technology Transfer to Sri Lanka Railways. The Colombo - Galle - Matara project is likely to be completed in two years.
The Indian Cultural Centre continued to foster a greater understanding among young Sri Lankans of the shared cultural and musical heritage of our two countries. A show, Nav Pratibha, was organised in March 2006 showcasing the talents of the students of the ICC in various dance and music forms. Earlier in the year, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage, Government of Sri Lanka and the High Commission of India jointly organised an Indian Handicrafts Exhibition in Colombo called Creative Hands India. The exhibition showcased the skills of Indian craft persons and the wealth of handicrafts from different states of India. Selected crafts of Jammu and Kashmir, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and other States of India were on sale. A highlight of this exhibition was the live demonstration by Indian craftpersons of leather embroidery from Bhuj, Gujarat, the famous chikan embroidery from Uttar Pradesh, wood carving from Rajasthan, papier mache from Jammu and Kashmir and cane and bamboo work from Assam. Large consignments of handicrafts were on sale. The exhibition was sponsored by the Office of the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts in India.

In February 2006, a 14 member Sri Lankan dance troupe participated at a very famous craft fair held outside New Delhi called the Suraj Kund Craft Mela. The dancers displayed their skills and brought Sri Lankan culture to the vast number of Indians who regularly throng the fair.

The High Commission of India gifted 83 rare photographs of Buddhist historical and art heritage from India to the Aluvihara temple in Matale. These photographs have been displayed in the premises of the temple.

The Government of India awarded scholarships for 60 Sri Lankan students to degree courses at prestigious Indian universities. These scholarships are funded by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). They provide to the scholar a complete waiver of all tuition fees, a generous monthly stipend for living expenses and the international airfare between India and Sri Lanka.

These courses are in a variety of subjects - degree courses in engineering, humanities, pure and applied sciences, technology, commerce and accountancy and others. There are also diplomas and degree courses offered in music, dance and fine arts. A few post-graduate courses with scholarships are also provided every year to deserving young students of Sri Lanka. Around 3,000 students have obtained degrees under the ICCR scholarship scheme over the past five decades. Sri Lanka has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the ICCR scholarship scheme. The grant of this large number of scholarships by the Government of India (GOI) is a symbol of the importance that GOI attaches to its relationship with Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan people.

This year's recipients include students from all parts of the country including Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Batticaloa, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Hambantota, Polonaruwa, Jaffna and Trincomalee who will study at Indian universities in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Osmania and Benaras Hindu University.

The people to people contacts between our two countries is growing and is set to grow further in the time to come. The newly-introduced Overseas Citizenship of India allows people of Indian origin all over the world to obtain various rights vis-à-vis access to and privileges within India. Overseas Citizens of India have permanent visa to enter India and have educational and property-owing rights within India. I am happy to note that many Sri Lankans of Indian origin have obtained this privilege and have thereby introduced another link to the many links already existing between our two ancient lands.

I am glad that the Wesak/Buddha Jayanthi celebrations at Sarnath in the year of the 2550th anniversary of the birth of Lord Buddha were telecast live in Sri Lanka. This was an invaluable opportunity provided to the people of Sri Lanka to witness the historic occasion direct from the hallowed place where the Master preached his very first sermon. I hope that this year concludes in peace and harmony for all the countries in our region under the protective canopy of this blessed anniversary.

The India-Sri Lanka relationship is a model for the region. Our constant attempt is to look for mutually- beneficial partnerships in diverse fields of activity, build even greater understanding and explore ways to bring our peoples even closer together. We have a shared destiny. That awareness should be the lodestar in our quest for an even deeper and stronger friendship. Let me conclude with the words of Jawaharlal Nehru when he spoke at a public reception in Colombo in January 1950: "... it seems to be quite inevitable and right 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..." Let that spirit of kinship continue to guide us in our journey forward with peace, boundless goodwill, friendship and mutual understanding as our constant companions and let us work for a closer partnership between our two countries in the cause of peace, democracy and development.

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Speech by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka , H.E. Smt. Nirupama Rao at the Awareness Seminar and Exhibition on cultural Connectivity at Kandy.

I am extremely happy to be here in the historic and timeless city of Kandy today on the occasion of the opening of the Awareness Seminar and Exhibition on Cultural Connectivity in the context of Sri Lanka, Celebrating Diversity, Shared Cultures and Intangible Heritage. I felicitate the Department of Archaeology of the University of Peradeniya and the UNESCO New Delhi Regional Office on this timely and extremely laudable initiative.

'Awareness, Connectivity, Diversity and Intangible Heritage'. Together, these words are trenchant in terms of the significance of their meaning. They encapsulate in their depth everything we would like the world to become. In another sense, they are the bedrock on which our sustainability as nations is founded. It is in this sense that the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity of November 2001 states that culture is at the heart of contemporary debates about identity, social cohesion, and the development of the knowledge-based economy. The Declaration makes the significant point that cultural diversity widens the range of options available to everyone; it is one of the roots of development, understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence.

Reading through the explanatory notes relating to the Conference, provided to me so kindly by Professor Sudarshan Seneviratne, I was struck by the observation contained therein that, and I quote, 'contraction of cultural spaces through globalization and the need to reorient the existing mindset from the narrow spectrum compartmentalized time, space and cultural rubric is an imperative'. Further, that archaeology and heritage studies are 'perhaps the best avenues that could rectify the process of cultural plurality and demythifying all forms of parochialisms in a scientific manner and place alternative histories before the next generation for a better and rational understanding of the past.' I could not help but agree with the observation made in the document that the 'mindset must be reoriented beyond the mono country and monoculture and be exposed to cross-regional and cross-cultural horizons.' And, that there is a need for a convergence of all stakeholders - the state, the private sector, school children, other professionals, the clergy and the public and international organizations in this exercise. That is what this current Seminar, the Exhibition and the connected activities set out to do, and I sincerely appreciate this noteworthy effort.

Some years ago, the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh talked in his Neelam Thiruchelvam Memorial Lecture in July 2001, of an 'archipelago of hope', creating those sanctuaries that remain 'stubbornly open to the flow of opinions, stubbornly hospitable to imagined enemies, stubbornly resistant to the floodwaters that seek to grind all forms of life into uniform grades of sand'. And here, in the many storied isle of Serendib, we must build those archipelagos of hope, regain that happiness, that insight, and allow ourselves to become whole again.

The interpretation of history is the subject of interminable debate in our societies, both in India and Sri Lanka. Through that interpretation we draw maps of the present and the future, and sometimes we encounter fault lines and fissures. Very often, as Salman Rushdie observes, we work with a 'broken glass', since in his words, 'we are not gods, but wounded creatures, cracked lenses, capable only of fractured perceptions. Partial beings in all the senses of that phrase.' The struggle of memory against forgetting, which Milan Kundera speaks of, is our constant companion.

We are constantly alerted by the more thoughtful and sensitive among us against the adoption of ghetto mentalities, which Rushdie calls the biggest elephant trap, and the pitfalls of defining ourselves within narrowly defined cultural frontiers. We must not go into internal exile, forgetting the world beyond, the connectivity that ties us to our common cultural space beyond the confines of imagined histories. We must open the universe a little more. Cross pollination of minds, ideas, the freedom of debate, the jousting of ideas - that should be our goal. It should be our goal not to create outsiders in our midst. Those inner frontiers within minds, those arterial blocks need to be cleared. Let us create what Carlos Fuentes called 'the privileged arena' in which great debates can be conducted.

What does the historical sense involve? To me, history is not just a construction of the past, it must create awareness of that collective heritage that is imprinted on our DNA, our bones as South Asians, that common heritage from Gandhara to Galle, that we are more than the sum of our many parts. T.S. Eliot, whom I will quote from more than once in these remarks, said '..the historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence, the historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order.' Furthermore, we must understand that the relationship between the past and the present is complex, and is not as simple as it seems, and neither can we compartmentalize this relationship in some fit of myopia.

How many of us are aware of the fact that Greek civilization was known originally to have roots in Egyptian, Semitic, and various other southern and eastern cultures, and that it was redesigned as 'Aryan' during the course of the nineteenth century, its Semitic and African roots either actively purged or hidden from view? So too, with our own histories, whether it is the linkage between southern India and Sri Lanka, or the fact that India's past before the Muslim invasions, was not merely Hindu, but strongly Buddhist and Jain for many centuries.

If there is a theory of liberation that we must internalize it is that culture, and all the ideologies that surround us, have what Edward Said called 'a complex genealogy'. We are liberated when we learn to be generous about these human realities of the cultures, the communities, the neighbourhoods which we populate. Let me quote from a beautiful passage from Said on this subject: 'No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are not more than starting-points...No one can deny the persisting continuities of long traditions, sustained habitations, national languages, and cultural geographies, but there seems no reason except fear and prejudice to keep insisting on their separation and distinctiveness, as if that was all human life was about. Survival is in fact about the connection between things, ... reality cannot be deprived of 'the other echoes [that] inhabit the garden'.

We can, as Ananda Coomaraswamy once noted, become windows on each other's past, our souls reflected in each other. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the case of India and Sri Lanka. I came across an article by the American naturalist, Dillon Ripley, the other day that referred to the age-old bridge between India and Ceylon, and the flora and fauna we share from Assam and the Brahmaputra basin through Kerala to Sri Lanka and the Malay Peninsula. This then is the story of convergence, or a step pyramid of coalescent histories, common origins and shared affinities. This is the history, the 'muffled footsteps' of which, to use the words of Rabindranath Tagore, beat in our blood. That convergence and the ability to speak of it, and speak beyond it, should be the source from which we draw our strength.