General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University (KDU) Friday held its inauguration ceremony of Master’s Degree program for the year 2018 and India’s High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu was the Chief Guest at the ceremony.
Delivering the keynote address on “India-Sri Lanka Relations for a Shared and Secured Future”, High Commissioner Sindhu noted that India-Sri Lanka relations are special, unique and stand on its own footing.
High Commissioner recalled that Sir Kotelawala was one of the most illustrious and brave sons of Sri Lanka. He noted that it is no coincidence that the motto of KDU is ‘For the Motherland and Forever’. High Commissioner cited the quote that the quality of a university is not measured by the kinds of students it takes in, but the quality of students it turns out. He complimented KDU for living up to the expectations of the countrymen.
High Commissioner highlighted the importance of higher education and research in the growth of a country. He mentioned that India currently has the third-largest scientific and technical manpower in the world. India has also become the second largest market for e-learning with more than one-third of the top 1,000 global R&D spenders having their centers in India.
Citing the 750 scholarships and 400 ITEC fellowships that India gives to Sri Lanka every year, High Commissioner said that India, as a country, has never believed in keeping its resources to itself. Even while having to confront with its own developmental challenges, India has always believed in sharing what it has.
High Commissioner reiterated that whether it be the rehabilitation of KKS Harbor, or setting up of model villages across the country, or helping the farming and fishing communities in the South or extension of emergency ambulance service island-wide, India is proud of the fact that she has been able to write the development partnership stories in Sri Lanka, based on Sri Lanka’s own priorities & requirements. This is important considering the strong democratic credentials of both India & Sri Lanka.
Founded in 1981 as a Defense Academy, KDU was elevated to the level of a university in 1986. It is the only university offering graduate courses in defense studies in the South Asian region.
Courtesy: Colombo Page
