Lanka seeks to strike balance between India and China

• Public Relations Council of Sri Lanka Launched
• Under the aegis of World Communicators Council
• PRCI coordinates communicators networking

COLOMBO, Aug 7: Sri Lanka has sought to firmly lay to rest India’s concerns over China developing a port at Hambantota by declaring that the deal is “purely commercial”.

“There is no question of allowing any Chinese Navy operations at the Sri Lanka port,” said Mr Mano Ganesan, Sri Lanka Minister for co-existence, Dialogue and Official Languages last night. “Chinese Navy cannot enter any place without the explicit permission of Sri Lanka government,” Mr Ganesan said inaugurating the Public Relations Council of Sri Lanka under the aegis of World Communicators Council (WCC).

Sri Lanka is striking a balance with its relationships with India and China, he said and assured that his government would not do anything that might jeopardise its ties with its big neighbour. “Both the countries are important to us,” he said.

Mr Ganesan welcomed the idea of the Sri Lanka PR Council started with the support of Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) which is also part of the WCC. He expressed the confidence that communications profession would go a long way with the cooperation between the councils of the two countries.

Referring to the internal war that Sri Lanka fought for four decades, Mr Ganesan expressed the confidence that the new constitution which is in the making will ensure “real time peace”.

He assured that the Sri Lanka government will not allow any form terrorism in the country.

“We are a multi-ethnic nation with Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity co-existing in peace,” he said.

Mr Kithsiri Kahatapitya, member – Western Provincial Council and former opposition leader, too hailed the birth of Sri Lankan PR Council and said professionals here could learn from the experiences of their Indian counterparts.
M​s Nayomini Weeasooriya, consultant to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, expressed the hope that the professionalism among communicators will be strengthened with the launch of the PRCSL.

Mr M B Jayaram, chief mentor and chairman emeritus of PRCI, said close cooperation among communications professionals across the world would contribute to an improved understanding among the people at large.

R T Kumar, Chairman of the PRCI’s governing council, said the Council is very keen to work closely with the Sri Lankan unit on networking and knowledge sharing.

PRCI national president B N Kumar explained that the organisation has successfully implemented a novel idea of communication for social causes such has water conservation, educating girl child for empowering India, focusing on suburban train infrastructure in Mumbai and environmental issues. “We have a unique guest faculty pool drawn from across media, PR, adverting and HR for visiting colleges and universities that teach mass communication,” he said.

PRCI international director T Vinay Kumar said the WCC will soon have chapters in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and UK.

PRCI’s young communicators club chairperson Geetha Shankar said the organisation is keen to promote knowledge sharing and skill development among mass media students.

Mr Aruna Weerakoon who is in involved in communicating with the farmers in Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) has been appointed as the Director of PRCSL. Mr T S Prakash, who is the Secretary of the Indian CEO Forum and President of the Sri Lanka-India Society, takes an additional responsibility as the Chairman of the PRCSL.

Mr K Ravindran, secretary general of PRCI, said the council also focuses on communication skill development for professionals in corporates.

Mr U S Kutty, chairman of the organising committee of the Sri Lanka launch, pointed out that PR and other communication professionals have appreciated the PRCSL idea and on the need to work closely with their Indian counterparts.