Respected,
Governor of Southern Province H.E. Willy Gamage,
Chief Secretary of Southern Province,
Secretaries,
Other officials of Dakshinapaya,
And dear Friends,
Good afternoon to all of you.
I warmly welcome each one of you to this Indian Musical
Evening conducted as a part of Azadi Ki Amrit Mahotsav and thank everyone for
sparing their valuable time to attend this event. I also welcome the artists
from Sri Lanka broadcasting Corporation who will be performing today.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of
India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the
glorious history of it’s people, culture and achievements. India will complete
her 75 years of independence on 15th August 2022. Our Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi on 12th March 2021 formally launched India@75 celebrations at
Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, 75 weeks before that landmark date. As part
of India@75 celebration, we are organizing various events and activities with
active participation and cooperation of our friends in Sri Lanka.
Dear Friends,
As you all know, we are slowly returning to normalcy from the clutches of
Corona Pandemic. However with the arrival of new covid variant, we still have
to be very careful. Guided by the strong leaderships and engagement at
diplomatic level, India and Sri Lanka bilateral relations have progressed
steadily, overcoming the challenges of COVID-19 global pandemic. I use this
opportunity to thank all the Sri Lankans for the special prayers and ceremonies
held in May for the well-being of people of India in the wake of COVID-19
pandemic. I am also happy that two eminent personalities from Sri Lanka, Dr.
Vajira Chitrasena and Late Prof. Indra Dassanayake were conferred with the
‘Padma Shri’ award this year by GoI for their contributions in the field
of dance, and literature and Education.
Friends,
Development cooperation is one of the main pillars of India-
Sri Lanka relationship. India’s assistance for human-centric development
partnership projects across Sri Lanka always has a meaningful impact on the
lives of the common people in this country. One of the greatest examples for
this is the Suwaseriya 1990 Ambulance service that served the people of Sri
Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic. India will always be preferable development
partner for Sri Lanka with special focus on areas
such as water, sanitation, vocational training, education etc.
As a part of India’s 'Neighbourhood First' policy, Government
of India has continued to support Sri Lanka during critical times. During the
initial period of the pandemic, India supplied 26 tons of essential medicines
and Covishield vaccines which helped Sri Lanka to launch its vaccination programme.
Continuing its support, India provided 100 T Liquid Medical Oxygen to Sri Lanka
during third wave of Covid pandemic .In November, India supplied Nano Nitrogen
Fertiliser to support the Government of Sri Lanka's initiative towards Organic
farming. Earlier, Indian Naval ships carried out extensive relief operations
when ship MV Xpress Pearl and MV Diamond caught fire in Sri Lankans waters.
Thus India has repeatedly demonstrated its capacity and role as the 'First
Responder' in the region.
Friends,
I once again welcome each one of you to this wonderful
evening..
Thank You, Sthuthi , Nandri..
