35th Board Meeting of the India Sri Lanka Foundation was held in New Delhi Print option in slimbox / lytebox? (info)
Thursday, 04 April 2019 11:57

35th Board Meeting of the India -Sri Lanka Foundation was held in New Delhi on 11th March 2019 at the ITC Maurya Hotel, in New Delhi with a view to fostering bilateral relations through the enhancement of economic, scientific, educational, technical and cultural cooperation, as well as promoting greater understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

Activities funded so far by the Foundation include research and other education activities at institutions of learning located in India and Sri Lanka; Facilitating visits and exchanges of scholars, academics, professionals, artists and experts of the two countries; Assisting activities such as seminars, symposia and workshops on subjects of common interest and extending financial support to those voluntary civil society organisations in both India and Sri Lanka whose work facilitates achievement of the objectives of the Foundation.

In the year 2017- 2018, New Delhi Chapter facilitated following projects;

- 70th and the 71st Sri Lanka Independence Day Celebrations in India

- Sri Lanka’s participation at the Delhi International Film Festival

- Visit of Academics and Scholars from India for the participation in the Rajagala Pre-Historic Archaeological Research Programme 2018 organised by the University of Jayuawardenapura, in May 2018. 

- 6th International Research Conference on Humanities in November 2018

- Participation at the International Conference on Right to Information organised by the Ministry of Mass Media in Sri Lanka in September 2018

- Sri Lanka Food Festival held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi in 2018 

- Participation of Jayanthi Kuru Uthumpala, first woman to climb the Mount Everest, delivering the prestigious V. Krishna Lecture at the Miranda House, University of Delhi in January 2019.

- Research Study on Ajantha and Dambulla: A Continuity of Buddhist Painting Tradition” by Dr. Saumya Chavan.

- Research study by Prof. Choodamani Nadagopal from Bangalore for the study of “Cultural Interface: Amaravathi- Anuradhapura”   

The two Board Members nominated by the Government of Sri Lanka are WJS Karunaratne, Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka and Charitha Ratwatte, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (participated through skype) and the Board Member from India Ambassador, Former Foreign Secretary of India, G. Parthasathy and the two Co-Chairpersons HE Austin Fernando, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in India and HE Taranjith Singh Sandhu, High Commissioner for India in Sri Lanka and the two Secretaries and the programme Officers of the two Chapters of the India Sri Lanka Foundation participated at the Meeting.  

Since its formation, the Foundation has financed and extended assistance to nearly 200 projects ranging from archaeological studies, exchange programs of academia, research related to Indo-Lanka relations, assistance to participate in seminars/workshops, publications, art exhibitions, training programs and travel assistance for participation in events in the realm of art & culture, student exchange programmes involving schools and colleges and film festivals in both countries.  The Board reviewed the implemented projects and the new project proposals were considered to be implemented in the year 2019.  

The India-Sri Lanka Foundation was established through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the governments of India and Sri Lanka on   28th December 1998 with equal contributions of SLR. 40 Million and INR. 20 Million respectively to the Corpus Fund. The Government of India has made additional contributions to the Corpus Fund recently, making its total contributions to INR. 45 million.

High Commission of Sri Lanka
New Delhi
04th April 2019