“Sri Lanka and India are the best of friends”: Amunugama

Minister of Special Assignments Dr. Sarath Amunugama, who represented the Government of Sri Lanka at the Indian Republic Day celebrations held at India House on 26 January, referred to the strong historic cultural ties between the two countries and their equally-strong economic partnership in the modern world. He said: “When India does well, Sri Lanka does well, and when Sri Lanka does well, so does India.”

He said Indian investment in Sri Lanka in many sectors was growing and noted with gratitude the currently operating ambulance scheme which is an Indian donation. The Minister made special reference to the common democratic tradition of the two countries and conveyed the best wishes of the Government and people of Sri Lanka to the Government and people of India on this happy occasion. The Minister also welcomed the new Indian envoy Taranjit Singh Sandhu, whose first official engagement was this function. Following is the address by Amunugama:

On behalf of President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the people of Sri Lanka, I like to extend our best wishes and warm felicitations to the Government and the people of India, on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of India’s Republic Day. 

This is also an opportunity for us, Your Excellency, to welcome you, on your first official engagement. You have many friends here, including me. We have had many conversations in the past. I will assure you of our full cooperation in all your endeavours. At the same time I must acknowledge and appreciate the contribution made by your predecessor Shri Y.K. Sinha to strengthen our bilateral ties. 

May I ask you, Your Excellency, to convey our best wishes to your Government and the people of India? Sri Lanka and India are the best of friends. As a former President of Sri Lanka once famously said, we are lovers of India and followers of her greatest son. That is a very strong link between our two countries, which grows every day. 

India and Sri Lanka are inseparable

Archaeological research in India and Sri Lanka are continuously bringing to light further information regarding the strength of our relationship. In the colonial period our leaders and your leaders were engaged, hand in hand, in fighting for the freedom. We have seen in Sri Lanka the presence of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, President Radhakrishnan and many other distinguished Indian leaders, including most recently Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi. So these are very, very strong links and India and Sri Lanka are inseparable.

We are the beneficiaries of the strong economic growth that India is now showing to the world. Very soon you will be the biggest population on the earth. I think by 2025 it is estimated that the Indian population will be in the region of 1.4 billion people. It is not only a country that has a large population, but is a country with a very strong democratic tradition. 

You have had in India and in Sri Lanka a growing democratic trajectory where more and more people, some of them earlier voiceless, have been able to express their choices and also to have their stake in how their countries are governed. We are two countries perhaps rare in the world where we appoint and disappoint leaders. We have fair elections. Some people who have graced these stages in the past are no more but our democratic traditions remain. 

It is within that democratic tradition that India has made this fantastic economic growth. As the country with the highest growth rate in the world, not only in economics terms, in GDP terms the highest in the world, but also the country that as a deliberate policy wants a more equitable sharing of income and wealth. 

Economic progress

Sri Lanka and India have always benefited from each other’s economic progress. We have large numbers of Indians coming to Sri Lanka every year. We have a growing number of Indian investments, in the tourist sector, in the petroleum sector, in the plantations sector, in the transportation sector, in the health sector and so on. 

And I must mention now the recent decision to send those ambulances. They are now functioning in two districts and as a Member of Parliament from a remote district we have asked to extend this facility to all the districts in the country. I am also happy to note that progress is being made on the fishermen’s issue and that a Joint Working Group is working on it, in the context of greater ministerial involvement.

When India does well, Sri Lanka does well, when Sri Lanka does well, so does India. I know as a former Minister of Finance, on every occasion when we had difficulties, when we had monetary crises, it was India that first came to us to help. We are happy about your economic progress because we are also beneficiaries of that. 

And finally I should say that we are the greatest admirers of your cricket team. Cricket is a rather delicate subject these days, but we are following what you did. We are now bringing our new players into the international arena.

I take this opportunity again on behalf of my country, on behalf of my President, the Prime Minister and the Government, to wish your President Shri Pranab Mukharji, your Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, and the people of India all the best.