We meet this evening to commemorate the Republic Day of India, marked in India some weeks ago with the pageantry that is associated with such events. I thank Mr. Neelakandan, the President and members of the Executive Committee of the Society for inviting me to this event in Colombo. I have a link to your Society through my father, who was, in his lifetime an active member and President of what was then known as the "Indo-Ceylon friendship Society". I recall the many times that I as a young girl visited India House for the annual evening reception hosted by the High Commissioner, on India's Republic Day. This was all the more exciting because the beautiful gardens of India House, which acquired a magical quality on those evenings, was a kind of extended garden for our home which overlooked India House. Many moons later, as Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo I became a neighbour on the other side, as an occupant of College House. I had the privilege of inviting High Commissioner Gopal Krishna Gandhi to the University's annual convocation, as Chief Guest, and India's former Chief Justice Verma to preside at our Millennium Academic Sessions. My husband and I have enjoyed the hospitality of His Excellency Shri Kantha and Shrimathi Kantha. I continue to marvel at the beauty of the buildings and grounds of India House. Fortunately, they will continue to be part of our landscape, and will not disappear in a Colombo City beautification project that has seen the decapitation of some of those majestic sentinels � the beautiful trees on the roads surrounding India House.

I belong to the generation of "midnights children" who witnessed the exciting dawn of independence in India and our own country, Sri Lanka. One of my most vivid memories was accompanying my parents and siblings to the Galle Face Green, where a multi ethnic, multi religious sea of people publicly grieved over the assassination of Mahathma Gandhi. To my generation blessed with the gift of a bilingual rather than monolingual education, connectivity to thought, ideas and events across our borders, and particularly with our closest neighbour India was natural rather than threatening. We had read "Glimpses of World History" by Jawaharlal Nehru and Nayanatara Sagals "Prison and Chocolate Cake". We could identify the struggle for independence from colonial rule as our common destiny. Our history books in secondary school wrote with an imperial colonial bias of the massacre of English soldiers in a "Black Hole in Calcutta". But we were exposed to an educational environment of critical thought, and could perceive that this was violence spawned by abuse of State power. So our generation appreciated and valued our links to India.

As Mahathma Gandhi is reported to have said "India and Sri Lanka cannot afford not to be friends." Perhaps now, more than at any other time in our long histories, knowledge and correct information is the key to undermine insularity and mistrust, building bridges of understanding between peoples, to create a conflict free environment. The State as well as civil society has been empowered by a new information revolution to reach the hearts and minds of our peoples to create a positive understanding of our connectivity and common interest as the largest, and one of the smallest countries of the South Asian region.

It is a historical fact that ideas have flowed across borders for centuries even without computers information technology websites and social media. The positive dimensions of our connectivity to India have been as powerful an influence on our island, as those dark periods of violence, war and hostility. When pseudo nationalism often based on misinformation and lack of awareness reduces our capacity for objectivity, we fail to appreciate and value the need for building on the positive dimensions of our collective experience. We only dwell on the dark periods of our collective history, with no serious effort to understand and address their causes, and prevent replication of such experiences. This evening is perhaps an appropriate occasion to reflect on the need to celebrate the positive dimensions of our shared history and values, even as we recognize some of the common challenges both our countries face in achieving progress and development. Our countries have never closed our doors to outside influences. It is important to recognize that we have a long tradition of connectivity across borders, that this has had both positive and negative impacts, and strengthen and build upon the positive experiences. As Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta, President of the Centre For Policy Research in New Delhi, remarked in a recent lecture in Colombo on the occasion of the 25th death anniversary of the late Vijaya Kumaranatunga, linking with the outside world must not be perceived as a threat but an opportunity.

Professor Mehta in the same lecture drew attention to an important aspect of life in South Asian countries, where people experience what he described as "the tyranny of a single identity". Though we are a region of rich diversity with an extraordinary blend of multiple cultures, traditions, and influences, we continue to perceive our destinies in terms of a single nationality, ethnicity, religious, caste or regional group. Scholars like Amartya Sen too have referred to the reality of our multiple identities as human beings. We are not merely part of a single group, but connect across groups because of our interests, particularly in intellectual ideas, and thoughts, science and technology, music literature or the arts. It is this sense of multiple identity that undermines "the tyranny of a single identity", giving us the capacity to respect and tolerate difference and diversity as "the other", even as we value our own distinctiveness as persons who belong to different nations, religions, or ethnicities.

One of the greatest opportunities of the contemporary phenomenon of globalization and the information revolution is the potential for building an environment where "the market place of ideas" breaks down the insularity that comes when we are obsessed with single identities. It seems critically important to develop our multiple identities if we are to live in conflict free societies.

We sometimes speak today of "globalization" as a new and unlearned experience. And yet from antiquity both our countries have benefited from a sharing and cross fertilization of intellectual thought and ideas, scholarship and skills. Sri Lankan school children, exposed invariably to a monolingual education learn of places like Baranas Nuwara and Kapilavastu, in text books on Buddhism. They are not taught to understand that the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the time of the Emperor Asoka was part of a long process of peaceful cross border interaction and the exchange of intellectual discourse and ideas, between our two countries. Visiting Nagarjuna Konda in India we Sri Lankans come across the "Sinhala Kuti" where the scholar Buddhagosa resided during the time he traveled between India and Sri Lanka. The celebrated text, the "Milanda Prasna" is thought to be a discussion between the Bhikku Nagasena and Meander. Some facets of today's globalization experience were surely replicated in the Silk Route, and in other times and centuries.

A sense of national identity in a post-colonial era has encouraged us in Sri Lanka to reject selectively rather than objectively what we see as influences from across our borders. Yet the influence of Indian ideas, skills and craftsmanship in the art and architecture of Sri Lanka fostered creativity, and helped us synthesise as well as refine and develop an art and architecture that is recognizable as Sri Lankan. Ananda Coomaraswamy's book on Madaeval Sinhala Art is a tribute to the genius and creativity that comes with access to diverse source of artistic tradition and techniques. On a recent visit to Jaipur I was struck by the similarity of the Meenakari tradition of setting uncut precious stones on gold leaf that is so similar to the craftsmanship in beautiful pieces of Kandyan jewellery that are gaining increasing popularity as the "traditional" ornaments of Sri Lankan brides. Though Indian scholarship literature and the arts have been a rich and varied resource for artistic and intellectual creativity in our country throughout the centuries, the politics of single identities prevents a true appreciations of the value of this connectivity. Creating a deeper understanding of the wealth of positive experience through associations such as yours and especially in schools and universities where monolingualism and insularity go together is a challenge. Yet this challenge must be addressed if we are to undermine the impact of ideologies that do not value peaceful relations between our countries.

It is also important to recognize that our shared historical tradition is reflected in the basic values of our laws and Constitutions. Even prior to the adoption of post independence Constitutions in Sri Lanka, both our countries had benefited by absorbing norms on participatory and accountable governance, derived from our British Colonial heritage. These values too are sometimes challenged today on the argument that they are "Eurocentric" and "Western" values. And yet, the public law of England that was integrated into the legal system of our countries was created through a human struggle of the people to address and contain the abuse of political power by the institutions of the State. It is because these values have an abiding relevance in restraining abuse of power that they continue to be an important and useful part of our common legal heritage. This is also why these values were embedded and developed in the independence Constitution of India, and the current 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Our region of South Asia has sometimes witnessed political changes that have rejected a core value of democratic governance � the people's right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections. And yet, Sri Lanka and India are two countries that have remained in general faithful to the concept of political change through a system of citizen franchise and electoral representation in the institutions of governance. The concept of military rule rather than civilian rule has been rejected even when both our countries have experienced dark periods of Emergency governance that undermined the civil liberties of the people. This is a very important and meaningful dimension of our political heritage that both our countries must cherish, even as we critique some of the distortions that have taken place in elected representation due to a contemporary culture of violence, corruption, and the irresponsible exercise of power by parliamentary majorities. Using the military in non-traditional roles to facilitate development, particularly after the destruction of armed conflict or natural disaster has not, and must not be ever recognized in either of our countries as a basis for replacing civilian administration and governance. This is a core dimension of our parliamentary and democratic norms of governance that reflect our shared political heritage.

The public law norms of civil and political rights integrated into the chapters on fundamental rights in our post independence Constitutions also represents another important aspect of that common heritage. The 1972 Constitution of Sri Lanka followed the usual practice in East Asian Countries and set down civil liberties as non enforceable and merely aspirational standards for State accountability in governance. However the post Independence Constitution of India pioneered for South Asia the concept that civil liberties to be meaningful, must be enforced in the courts, and provides the citizen with remedies for violations of these fundamental rights. This is a concept that has also been integrated in the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The draft Constitution 2000 of Sri Lanka which was unfortunately not adopted, has a chapter on fundamental right that seeks to overcome the limitations of the 1978 Constitution, expanding the power of judicial review of State action, and linking to Constitutional developments in India. Jurisprudence on fundamental rights in India, especially from the Justice Bhagavati Court has been absorbed into the best jurisprudence of Sri Lanka, and developed by distinguished Sri Lankan judges like the late Justices Mark Fernando and Ranjith Amarasinghe. The Bangalore Principles in particular, developed through Commonwealth Judicial Colloquia during the time of justice Bhagavatis' Court, offer insights into the integration of international treaty law into domestic law and jurisprudence so as to strengthen a State's accountability for people centered governance. These linkages in public law and jurisprudence between our two countries are important in a new era of globalization when it is becoming more important to understand the role of both State and Non State actors. There is a critical need to ensure that the core democratic values are strengthened rather than undermined by market economic pressures. The exposure of Sri Lankan legal academies and professionals to Indian law, either through scholarship or professional links, and access to Indian legal literature has meant that Indian cases are cited in Sri Lankan Courts. However unfortunately the reverse is not visible and we cannot claim that our jurisprudence has traveled across our borders to India or other countries of our region.

The approach to the role of the judiciary and the public service reflect a similar value system in both our countries. The recent impeachment crisis highlighted that the Indian legislature has acted upon its responsibility to foster and support the independence of the judiciary, by enacting a special law which recognizes that the security of tenure of a judges of the Supreme Court must be guaranteed. Removal has to be based on strict adherence to defined procedures that also conform to recognized principles of natural justice. This Indian legislation in fact inspired proposals in Sri Lanka's draft Constitution of 2000 that was not adopted. A former Sri Lankan Prime Minister who was the head of government in an earlier era is quoted as having said "who wants a politicized public service? They are the people who lead us up the garden path". The wisdom of this approach has contributed to the professionalism of the Indian public and Foreign Service. This experience provides governments and citizens of our country with an insight into the importance of not rejecting abiding values of accountable governance in the name of efficiency and fast forwarding economic development.

The positive lessons of our shared history values intellectual thought and ideas on governance must help us in achieving an important balance between human development and economic growth, as we shape our future destinies in South Asia. India has achieved extremely high levels of economic growth and is predicted to be a powerhouse of economic success when the epicenter shifts from Europe and North America to Asia in the coming decades. Sri Lanka is giving priority to reaching a similar goal, as the Asian region's "small miracle" of economic growth. Yet it is Sri Lanka's visionary focus on human development in the post independence decades that has helped it to achieve higher social indicators for its people than India. The founding fathers of India, following Anglo American experience did not place socio economic rights to health and education as justiciable human rights that could be enforced through Court procedures. It is activist Indian judges who reinterpreted the negative fundamental rights not to be deprived of life as a positive right to live in dignity with access to basic socio economic needs like health and education. As the gap between the rich and the poor grows in India, with an increasingly small population of " chropathis " the government is being challenged to allocate necessary resources to address poverty and jobless growth, and realize the socio economic rights of the people. The recognition of these challenges and serious efforts to address them must inspire our own government to retain our country's commitment to allocate adequate budgetary resource for social and economic rights. These must continue to be recognized on the basis that all people must share national resources.

Today the 8th of March is a day celebrated throughout the world as International Women's Day. Both our countries have had successes and failures in realizing the Constitutional promise of equality for women, who constitute 51% of our population. Sri Lanka has achieved more impressive social indicators on women's health and education, eroding values on son preference that continue to hamper women and girls access to equal life chances in India. Yet India has achieved more in terms of grassroots women's access to political participation in local bodies. Sri Lanka with it high social indicators, has a higher rate of female employment even among the educated. It has the poorest statistics in South Asia on women's representation in all legislative bodies. Yet both our legislature and judiciary have rejected the concept of a quota for women, even at the lowest level of local government.

We in South Asia have not yet overcome the tyranny of inequality based not just on income disparity but gender, religious, ethnic, and caste identity. The current phenomenon of globalization and new information technologies have also created new potential to disseminate false information, and false consciousness of a single identity, whether as men and women, or members of ethnic religious and caste groups. Information technology, social media and websites are being used to transmit values on a single identity, male dominance and sexuality that conflict with other messages in our society on equality and zero tolerance for violence against women. Unless governments and communities use these new technology and opportunities to internalize values of respect for diversity and equality, economic growth will only create modern cities that must inevitably crumble in the face of conflict and institutionalized disadvantage

Connectivity between our countries and between regions has been part of our history from antiquity. The positive dimensions of that continuity have been usually reflected in cross borders exchange of ideas, music art literature and technology. The Contemporary focus on science and technology must not lead us to devalue positive influences in the area of humanities and social sciences that helped spread humane values on equality and equitable power sharing in the family, the community, and the institutions of governance. Our collective histories have demonstrated that conflict between communities their people and governments spawn violence destruction and human suffering. Our collective histories have also shown us that sharing the positive experiences in thought, ideas, literature, art and music through people to people interaction is perhaps the only path to making the connections that foster peace harmony and progress for both our nations.

Thank You.