Rishad Bathiudeen, Sri Lanka Minister of Industry and Commerce graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu was the Guest of Honor. Over 250 alumni of Indian educational and training institutions, from various parts of Sri Lanka, attended the function.

Speaking on the occasion, minister Bathiudeen lauded India´s valuable assistance for Sri Lankan nationals and acknowledged the contribution to Sri Lankan human resource development and skill development.  He noted that these have boosted cultural ties and have further strengthened people-to-people contact between the two countries. The minister termed the cooperation as historic and conveyed his gratitude to the people of India in this regard. He further added that the friendly ties between Sri Lanka and India are also helping in achieving the developmental goals of the current Government.

In his address, High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu thanked the minister for gracing the function and appreciated the large turnout of participants. He underlined skills are the real strength and Government of India is committed to strengthening the skill set in Sri Lanka. High Commissioner conveyed that Sri Lanka is one of the most important partner countries for the Scholarship Program.  He added that the Government of India has increased ITEC slots from 225 to 370 in the year 2016-17.

Sri Lankan ITEC and student alumni shared their experiences of studying and participating in training programs in prestigious institutions in India, recollecting their warm memories, appreciating their useful experience and sharing how their exposure has helped them in enhancing their capabilities and using the experience gained for providing better service in their country.