Nepal-Sri Lanka Relations – Amb Himalee Arunatilaka
Watch it on NIICE Nepal YouTube Channel
Nepal-Sri Lanka Relations
July 24, 2020
Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) organized a talk on “Nepal-Sri Lanka Relations” in order to understand the bilateral relations between countries better. NIICE welcomes Her Excellency Himalee Arunatilaka, a career diplomat who is fluent in International Relations as a subject and an advocate of justice in various forms to speak about Nepal-Sri Lanka Relations. Her Excellency Himalee Arunatilaka is a career diplomat having joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in July 1998. Immediately prior to her appointment as Ambassador to Nepal, she headed the Africa Affairs Division and the International Security & Counter-Terrorism Division of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry as Director-General. Her overseas assignments include Canberra, where she has served as the Deputy High Commissioner with concurrent accreditation to New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa (August 2015-December 2018), Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris, as Minister/Head of Chancery with concurrent accreditation to Spain and Portugal (2006- 2009) and the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva as First Secretary (2003-2006). Her previous assignments in the Foreign Ministry include the Political Affairs/Europe, CIS and Americas Division, where she was the Acting Director General from 2010 to 2014, and during which time Sri Lanka hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Counter Terrorism Unit and the Public Communications Division. In January 2015, Ms Arunatilaka was seconded to the Presidential Secretariat as the Director/Foreign Affairs, where she worked closely with the Senior Advisor to the President on Foreign Affairs Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, until August 2015. She has represented Sri Lanka as a member of Government delegations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo (2013), United Nations General Assembly in New York (2012 and 2013), St Petersburg International Economic Forum (2011), and also accompanied the Government Delegation for Talks with the LTTE on the Ceasefire Agreement in Geneva handling media relations (2006). Prior to joining the Foreign Service Ms Arunatilaka worked with the Women and Media Collective and the Sri Lanka Women’s NGO Forum for Beijing ’95, in Colombo. Ms Arunatilaka is an alumna of George C Marshal European Centre for Security Studies, Garmisch, Germany, Daniel K Inouye Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Honolulu, Hawaii and the Pakistan Foreign Service Academy, Islamabad. She holds a Master of Arts Degree from the Middlebury College-School in France, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (with Major in French) from the University of the South, (Sewanee) in Tennessee, USA. Ms Arunatilaka completed her secondary education at Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo and speaks Sinhalese (mother tongue), English and French. She enjoys classical music and yoga.
In her remarks, she stated that Nepal and Sri Lanka share excellent relations which date back to ancient times that have been quoted as the primary reason which helped in laying down the foundation of the two countries’ bilateral relations today. In this context, the first point of contact that strengthened the deep bond between the two countries is Buddhism as a common practice in both countries. It is of imperative importance to note that the great chronicle of Mahavamsa encapsulates that Lord Gautama Buddha has visited the land of Sri Lanka three times. Sri Lanka in calculation has preserved the message of Lord Gautama Buddha as an aftermath of the three historical visits depicted in the great chronicle of Mahavamsa and has as a result influenced the culture of Buddhism fluently in the country, thus making the cultural links between Sri Lanka and Nepal unique, transcending into a deep spiritual connection with Buddhism weaving through it. However, formal diplomatic relations were only established on 1st July 1957.
Following the Sri Lankan independence in the year of 1948, a number of high-level visits were carried out between the two countries, signalling a growing and strengthening bilateral relations. The first visit was marked as an auspicious day as King Mahendra of Nepal stepped foot on the land of Sri Lanka in 1957. Thereafter, the economic ties between Nepal and Sri Lanka only grew, which included a combination of agreements surrounding air services, trade, joint commission, avoidance of double taxation, etc. Several joint ventures were also formed.
Taking advantage of its favourable location as an island country, Sri Lanka has always expected to thrive in the tourism industry, aside from trade and commerce. This largely affected all tourism industries across the world, and Sri Lanka was not spared. However, even before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Nepal and Sri Lanka saw a form of an unkept collaboration of tourism between the two countries, mainly due to the lack of awareness of the tourist sites present in each other’s countries.
The post-COVID world desires fresh thinking to free the tourism industry out of the shackles of COVID-19 protocols, which led to various forms of intra-regional tourism facilities. In regards to the educational sector, the two countries have decided to collaborate by legally signing an agreement which gives force to the disposal of needing to pay for student visa fees, which as a result encourages students to study in each other’s countries.
In furtherance of the above, as the global economic power is gradually shifting toward the Asian continent, it gives Sri Lanka, an island country located in the Indian Ocean an equal economic advantage. Moreover, in consonance with Lankan President Gotabya Rajapaksa’s vision, it is just the perfect chance to develop strong bonds with reciprocal commercial ties and trade relations with its Asian neighbours, including Nepal. This also gives Nepali businesses an advantage to flourish more, with a view of increased maritime activity relating to trade in the Indian Ocean. As a result, both countries have a long-term view to collaborate with each other and benefit in social as well as economic terms.
Prepared by Poulomi Chatterjee, Intern at NIICE, Nepal