Colombo (LNW): To honor the 50th death anniversary of Chilean Nobel Prize laureate and poet Pablo Neruda, the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Embassy of Chile in New Delhi, partnered with the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Kelaniya, the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi, India said in a statement.
Together, they organised an event featuring the presentation of the book “සෙයිලාන් දූපතේ දීප්තිමත් හුදෙකලාව” (Ceylan Doopathe Deepthimath Hudekalawa) on December 1, 2023, at the University of Kelaniya.
The translated book, by Indrani Rathnasekara, captures a chapter from Neruda’s memoirs, “Ceilán: La Soledad Luminosa,” recounting his time in Ceylon from 1929-1930 as the first Chilean Consul.
The event saw the presence of Juan Angulo, the Chilean Ambassador in India concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka, as the guest of honour.
The inauguration included Senior Lecturer Wijayananda Rupasinghe, Head of the Department of Mass Communication, and Professor M. M. Gunathilake, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, both from the University of Kelaniya. Indrani Rathnasekera, the translator, and Dr. Darshana Samaraweera, Deputy Director General of the National Institute of Education, played key roles in the event. The book was presented to the University of Kelaniya librarian and the Director of National Schools for circulation among schools.
This commemorative event served as a successful initiative to strengthen the ties between Sri Lanka and Chile, showcasing the potential for collaboration between Sri Lanka and diplomatic missions concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka from other capitals.
Currently, 99 foreign diplomatic missions are concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka from New Delhi, with the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi acting as the focal point for their interactions with Sri Lanka.
