The celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Thailand is being launched today, (20 November 2014). The two countries established formal diplomatic relations on 20 November 1955. Sri Lanka and Thailand have a long history of close religious, cultural and trade links fostered over several centuries.
Buddhism has played a pivotal and catalytic role over several hundred years in binding the two countries together, and relations have been further consolidated since the establishment of diplomatic relations. At present, the two countries enjoy strong and warm relations in a variety of spheres ranging from political and economic to religious and cultural, people-to-people contacts, as well as mutually beneficial cooperation in the regional and international fora.
To celebrate this important milestone, a series of events have been organized by the Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in collaboration with the respective Embassies in the two countries.
The first such event was the Logo Design Competition on the theme “Connectivity for Shared Prosperity” conducted in Sri Lanka and in Thailand to symbolically illustrate the close ties between the two countries. Bringing together a vast array of youthful artistic talent and expertise from the two countries in an open competition, the logo designed by Mr. Paniwit Nilkaew, a student from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang, Thailand was adjudged the winner. He will receive a cash prize of Rs. 100,000/- at a ceremony to be held in Bangkok shortly. The winning logo will appear at all commemorative events and on all material issued in connection with the 60th anniversary celebrations.
Of the large number of entries received from the two countries, two runners-up were also selected: Dr Mohan Harshanath Samarasinghe from Sri Lanka and Mr. Athikom Batyod from Thailand.
Ministry of External Affairs
Colombo
20 November 2014
