High Commission of Sri Lanka in India

High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam and Alka Arora, the Additional Development Commissioner for Handicrafts of India inaugurated on 30 October the "Shilpa Sri Lanka 2010" Crafts exhibition at Dilli Haat, New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, High Commissioner Kariyawasam appreciated the close bonds between India and Sri Lanka and thanked the Office of the Development Commissioner for the support rendered for Sri Lankan artisans to showcase their talents in India.

Twelve craftspersons will be displaying their creations at Shilpa Sri Lanka 2010 Exhibition which continues until November 11^th . The Exhibition is being organized by the National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Sri Lanka High Commission in India and the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handicrafts, India.  

Officials of the National Crafts Council, staff members of the Sri Lanka High Commission and of the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handicrafts, and well wishers were present on the occasion.

At the invitation of Minister of New & Renewable Energy of India Farooq Abdullah, Minister of Power & Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka visited India to participate at the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC) from 27-29 October 2010.

Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference is the fourth of a series of global Ministerial-level Conferences on Renewable Energy, engendered by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The earlier Conferences were held in Washington in 2008, Beijing in 2005 and Bonn in 2004.

Speaking as a Panelist in the Ministerial Session of the Conference chaired by Minister Farooq Abdullah, Minister Ranawaka stressed the need for improving renewable energy as a form of mainstream energy. Referring to Sri Lanka’s experience, he stated that a considerable amount of Sri Lanka’s energy come from renewable sources and Sri Lanka’s emission levels are far below than world average. There is good potential for expanding wind power in Sri Lanka but issues pertaining to storage and dispatch of solar and wind energy have to be addressed. Sri Lanka is also focusing on Biomass based energy such as Dendro Power.

During his stay in New Delhi he also held bilateral meetings with Minister Farooq Abdullah and the Indian Minister of Power Susil Kumar Shinde. He briefed the Indian Ministers on challenges and opportunities in Sri Lanka. The Joint Declaration signed during H E the President’s State Visit to India in June 2010 underscored this aspect. It was noted that SAARC could take substantial initiatives to mobilize collective efforts to harness renewable energy sources in the region. The role of the public and private sectors will be indispensable in this regard. Measures to be taken to establish grid connectivity between India and Sri Lanka and the proposal to set up a coal power plant in Sampur was also discussed. Minister Ranawaka sought India’s active participation at the ‘Vidul Lanka’ Renewable Energy exhibition to be held in Colombo in August 2011.

Minister Ranawaka delivered the Keynote Address at one of the sessions of the Pan-IIT Conclave on Biomass Energy held on the sidelines of the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference. In his address Minister Ranawaka commended India for major efforts being taken towards reinvigorating the use of biomass energy and to make it a more organized sector that can significantly contribute towards welfare and well-being of people, especially the poor.

Minister Ranawaka during his stay in India visited the Dadri Coal Power Plant and the Load Dispatch Centre near Delhi, and the Nuclear Power Plant in Kalpakkam for study purposes. High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam, Ceylon Electricity Board Chairman Vidya Amarapala and Power & Energy Ministry’s Director (Technical) Merille Goonetilleke were also associated in Minister Ranawaka’s meetings and site visits.  

The Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe arrived New Delhi on October 19, for a 8-day Official Visit on the invitation of the Chief of Indian Navy staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma. This visit marked another milestone of the close naval relationship between the two Navies as well as the defence cooperation between the two countries.

Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe’s visit is the third such among the Service Chief’s of the two countries in the year 2010 alone in which two Indian Service Chief’s visited Sri Lanka. Indian Naval Chief paid a visit in July whilst the Chief of Army Staff, General VK Singh visited in September marking the close defence relations enjoyed by two countries. Sri Lankan Navy chief called on the Indian Service Chief’s during his visit. Vice admiral Samarasinghe paid a courtesy call on Honourable Minister of Defence, Shri A K Anthony and met senior officials of the Indian Security establishment accompanied by The High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam. The High Commissioner hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting Navy Chief of Sri Lanka and Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma at the Residence on the first day of the visit .

He has also attended the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the National Defence College (NDC) as an alumina of the prestigious institution. He is one of the serving Chief’s produced by the NDC and the function was presided by the President of India on 21st Oct 2010. Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe attended the 45th Course at NDC in year 2005 along with the present King of Bhutan when he was the crown prince. 

The Navy Commander is scheduled to travel to several naval facilities. In Vishakapatnam he will visit the eastern fleet and also scheduled to visit the Garden Reach Shipyard in Kolkata to review the refit programme of the Sri Lankan Naval vessel. His visit to Southern Naval Command in Kochi has a special significance as he will be interacting with the Indian Naval training Establishment in which he was trained as a young Lieutenant in 1981.

The visit is undertaken in the backdrop of series of interactions between the two Navies aimed at enhancing naval relations and cooperation and in the context of several Indian naval vessels making goodwill missions to Sri Lankan Ports in western & eastern coastline for series of exercises.

On 15^th October, Prof. Peiris called on Mr. P. Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs of India. The Home Minister and Prof. Peiris discussed the progress with regard to the programme of 50,000 houses to be built in the formerly conflicted affected areas, through grant funds from India. Minster Peiris briefed that the allocation of State lands for the construction of 1,000 houses in a cluster format for the use of widows or single headed families, was well underway. The rest of the programme would relate both to the construction of 32,000 houses on an owner driven basis on private land, as well as to the repair of 17,000 damaged houses.