Buddhist Diplomacy highlights historic Lanka- Thailand relations

On Tuesday, 7th June 2022, the Royal Thai Embassy, in Sri Lanka, partnered with the Awarelogue Initiative, organized a seminar on Buddhist Diplomacy at the Buddhist Cultural Centre, in Colombo, highlighting the role that Buddhism has played to ensure longstanding diplomatic relations between both countries, and high-level connectivity over a long period of time.

The initial segment of the seminar saw Poj Harnpol, Ambassador of Thailand to Sri Lanka, deliver the opening remarks, while the special address was by Ven. Phra Phocana of the Buriram Buddhist College of the Mahachulalongkornrajavidhyalaya University in Thailand. He spoke on ‘Monastic Correspondence between Thailand and Sri Lanka in the Nineteenth Century’. An address was also delivered by Ven. Dr Wadinagala Pannaloka Thera of the Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the University of Kelaniya on ‘Thai Upasampada in Sri Lanka: An Appraisal’.

A book, titled ‘Buddhist Diplomacy – Sri Lanka Thailand Relations,’ by Dr George I. H. Cooke, diplomatic historian and initiator of the Awarelogue Initiative, was also launched on this occasion. The book was reviewed by Senior Prof. Nayani Melegoda, former Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Colombo. A panel discussion, on International Relations and Research, was held with Prof. Maneesha Wanasinghe-Pasqual, former head of Department of International Relations at the University of Colombo, and Dr Saroja Wettasinghe, former Director General of the National Archives of Sri Lanka.

Bringing together Venerable members of the Maha Sangha, Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps, academics and students, history enthusiasts, and well-wishers, the event highlighted the significance of religion as a diplomatic tool that could be cultivated to promote bilateral connectivity, as in the case of Sri Lanka and Thailand.