Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Saturday, 11 February 2012 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo commemorated Sri Lanka’s 64th anniversary of Independence at the Reiyukai Centre in Tokyo on Saturday, 4 February with a large gathering of the Sri Lankan community residing in Japan.
The Chief Guest at the ceremony, Minister of Public Management Reforms Navin Dissanayake highlighted the strong bilateral relations between Japan and Sri Lanka, stating that Japan has continued to assist Sri Lanka by way of development assistance despite the country’s many setbacks following the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March.
The Minister, who was on an official tour in Japan, cited that during his many meetings with senior Japanese officials he had observed that there was tremendous gratitude and respect for Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Admiral Karannagoda stated that Sri Lanka and Japan will commemorate the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations in 2012 and many events will be organised to commemorate the event.
However, relations between the two countries date back many centuries and the highlight of relations between Japan and Sri Lanka was at the San Francisco Peace Conference held in September 1951, at which Sri Lanka’s then Finance Minister J.R. Jayawardena who later became President of Sri Lanka, spoke on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government and urged the participating countries to accept Japan in the spirit of Lord Buddha’s teachings. He quoted from Lord Buddha’s teachings and showed the world that hatred cannot be won by hatred but by love and compassion.
The Ambassador further stated that following the Great East Japan earthquake last year, the Sri Lankan Government and the people were quick to lend assistance to the Government of Japan and its people during this difficult time and showed solidarity with the people of Japan in numerous ways. Many visits were made to Miyagi and Fukushima where the Ambassador and staff of the Embassy of Sri Lanka as well as the Sri Lankan community members assisted in donation activities for the displaced.
The Independence Day celebrations took place with religious observances, reading of Independence Day messages of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne and Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris and cultural dance performances by a five-member Channa-Upuli Dance troupe, followed by a reception which included traditional milk rice and Sri Lankan sweet-meats.
