Sri Lankan PM Harini Amarasuriya has a little-known connection with India and some of its political leaders

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya arrived in New Delhi for a three-day visit today. This is her first trip to India since taking office in her home country in September this year.

Amarasuriya will meet Indian political leaders to discuss bilateral issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Her visit to India comes over six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the island nation.

“This will be my first official visit to India as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. India and Sri Lanka, as you are aware, are closely tied together by history, culture, and shared values. Our relationship is one of great depth and importance and I look forward to using this opportunity to strengthen our cooperation in every sphere, such as trade, investment, education, development and beyond,” Amarasuriya said ahead of his India visit.

The India Connection

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister has an Indian connection. She is an alumna of Hindu College at the University of Delhi, and will also visit her alma mater too. Amarasuriya did a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Delhi University from 1991 to 1994.

In September, when Amarasuriya became the PM of Sri Lanka, Hindu College Principal Anju Srivastava expressed pride in the college’s distinguished alumna.

“It is a huge honour and a momentous occasion for us. This is like homecoming for Amarasuriya... She studied sociology from 1991-1994,” Srivastava told reporters ahead Sri Lankan PM's visit to the college.

Srivastava had said Harini was a student of Sociology from 1991 to 1994, and "we are extremely proud of her accomplishments". She expressed hope that Amarasuriya's "time at Hindu played a part in shaping her path to success."

Amarasuriya also holds a doctorate degree in social anthropology from the University of Edinburgh.

The Hindu College has organised a series of events to welcome Harini Amarasuriya on Thursday.

“There is a social and ethnographic lab of the sociology department which became functional recently. We wanted to name the lab after her as a tribute to her visit and her being an alumnus. She will be unveiling the new board during her visit,” Srivastava said.

During her visit, Amarasuriya will unveil a new ethnographic lab of the sociology department in the College. She will also take a tour of “Classroom 27, where she attended classes.

“The classroom number 27 has been a part of the sociology department for decades. We hope to take her to the room and corridors where she had spent most of her time as a student,” Srivastava told Hindustan Times.

The college will welcome the guest with a ceremonial Guard of Honour by 16 NCC cadets and a symbolic tree plantation on the college front lawn.

Hindu College and politicians

Hindu College is one of the most prestigious colleges of the University of Delhi. The College, situated on Sudhir Bose Marg in the North Campus of the University of Delhi, has a long list of former students who went on to join politics later.

Former Hindu College students who have become BJP leaders include Meenakshi Lekhi and Nupur Sharma, although not all were active on campus in the 1990s. Other prominent alumni, such as Hardeep Singh Puri and Subramanian Swamy, also later joined the BJP but were not student politicians in the 1990s.

(With agency inputs)