Srilankan High Commissioner in City, Flight Link Between Colombo & Bhubaneswar Likely Soon

Bhubaneswar, August 23: Milinda Moradonga, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in India called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday and discussed the historic Indo-Lankan relationship. He also visited the Buddha Mandir at the Mahabodhi Society of India.

Moradonga has been in public life for three decades holding high positions from being an Ambassador for his country in the United States of America and then in the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers as Minister of Economic Reform, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Justice and now holding office as the High Commissioner.

During the discussion the promotion of tourism in the Buddhist Circuit of Odisha was highlighted. It was also learnt that very soon, there will be a direct flight connecting Bhubaneswar and Colombo.

It would be pertinent to mention here that after the historic Kalinga War Buddhism was propagated to Sri Lanka by the son and daughter of Emperor Ashoka as he got transformed from a blood-thirsty emperor to the messanger of universal brotherhood, peace, harmony and humanity after being converted as a Buddhist. From that historic period, Indo-Lankan relationship took another turn, though before that maritime trade was in force between the traders of Kalinga and Lanka.