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Special guest lecture by Prof. Bérénice Guyot-Réchard

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A Special Guest Lecture was conducted at the BIDTI on 26th May, 2023 by Prof. Bérénice Guyot-Réchard of King’s College London exclusively for participants of the BIDTI programmes.

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Prof. Guyot-Réchard is the author of the critically acclaimed ‘Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910-62’. A specialist of modern South Asia and the Indian Ocean, Prof. Guyot-Réchard holds an associate professorship in contemporary international history at King’s College London. Her award-winning work focuses on the long-term impact of decolonization, particularly in terms of international politics. She has written extensively on the strategic borderlands between India, China and Burma.

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During her presentation, Prof. Guyot-Réchard revealed how the political tensions between two nations that took place from 1949 – 1962 who are striving for development have been exacerbated by geography and how sharing a border has increased their rivalry. Professor paid special significance to the friction in the Eastern Himalayan borderlands to which both nations lay claim. She explained the competition between the two nations to win over hearts and minds of the people in the border areas.

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Three Constitutions and Three Decades of Working in the Parliament

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Speaking at the BIDTI on Friday 30th September, the former Secretary General of Parliament Nihal Seneviratne highlighted the advantage of the constitution introduced by the Soulbury Commision stating that it was the best constitution Sri Lanka had up to date.
Having served in the Parliament over 30 years, Seneviratne elaborated on the evolution of the Constitution from the Colbrooke – Cameron reforms of 1833 up to the 1978 Constitution. He reiterated the importance of safeguarding the Constitution to uphold democratic values. Further, he discussed about the Executive Presidency, its influence and effects to the country shedding light on the variety of speeches orated over the years in the Parliament.
Highlights of his experience shared with the audience was received with an overwhelming response from the former Foreign Secretaries, Ambassadors, Military personnel, Academics, media as well as alumni of the BIDTI. The lecture was followed by an interactive session where many expressed concerns of the prevailing economic and political situation in the country suggesting remedial action.
Mr. Seneviratne’s speech was a part of the Special Guest Lecture Series initiated by the BIDTI in 2019 as an exercise in creating awareness on the contemporary topics among the general public. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the lecture series was suspended in March, 2020 and relaunched after two and half years with his lecture.

Webinar on Counter Terrorism Measures and IHL

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The BIDTI in collaboration with the ICRC delegation in Sri Lanka conducted a webinar on ‘Counter Terrorism Measures and International Humanitarian Law’ on 8th April 2021. This is the third webinar of the series conducted on the contemporary challenges to International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

The objective of the Webinar series is to create a platform for the state actor to deliberate on the challenges in implementing IHL. The panellists consisted of former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN and former Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Rohan Perera PC, former Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of
Sri Lanka and Chair Professor of Law in University of Peradeniya Professor Deepika Udagama as well as Brigadier Keerthi Kottawaththa Director, Directorate of Human Rights in IHL in Sri Lanka Army and Legal Advisor of ICRC Headquarters in Geneva Kelissiana Thynne.

his webinar in particular, featured the challenges to IHL by counter terrorism measures conducted in the context of armed conflict. Professor Udagma set the scene for the discussion by explaining the concurrent application of IHL to counter terrorism operations. Whilst Kelissiana Thynne addressed the concerns identified by the ICRC with regard to application of IHL to Counter- Terrorism measures in armed conflicts. Dr. Rohan Perera, who has written extensively on international terrorism gave an insight to disscussions of the sixth committee terms of application of IHL to Counter Terrorism measures. Lastly, Brigadier Kottawaththa shed light as to how the Sri Lanka Armed Forces integrate humanitarian considerations in Counter Terrorism operations in armed conflicts from an operational perspective.

The webinar was moderated by Legal Advisor to ICRC Delegation in Sri Lanka Samindika Elkaduwe.

Foreign Minister visits the BIDTI

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The BIDTI was pleased to welcome the Minister of Foreign Relations Honourable. Dinesh Gunawardena, who visited the Institute on 29th September 2020. The visit undertaken amidst the busy schedule of the Minister was appreciated by the staff of the BIDTI.

Tracing socio-cultural roots of the Portuguese influence in Sri Lanka

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“Cultural impressions made by the Portuguese, have not been erased by the Dutch or the British” explained Dr. Shihan De Silva Jayasuriya in a Special Guest Lecture on “The Portuguese impact on the socio-culture of Sri Lanka” on 6th February 2019 at the BIDTI.

“The intangible Portuguese heritage has been remarkably durable” thus having a significant influence in Asian language, religion, architecture, cuisine, music and dance. However, “the most vibrant Portuguese influence” is on Sri Lankan popular music- chorus Baila. Music, which was a significant element in Portuguese culture, was used as an interface for harmonious communication. In fact, Dr. De Silva argued that music was a factor in bridging the cultural gap between Sri Lankans and the Portuguese.

Another form of Portuguese Socio-cultural influence is portrayed in the lexicon of Sinhala, Tamil and Sri Lankan Malay. Taking into account the asymmetric power relationship between the Portuguese colonisers and the Sri Lankans, “an inevitable emulation enhanced cross cultural flow and linguistic transmission.”

Furthermore, the Portuguese influence within Sri Lankan society is even more prominent in Portuguese Burgher communities and Afro- Lankan communities within the Island. These communities have preserved cultural attributes such as Creole known as “Sri Lankan Portuguese”.These communities, often marginalized, are unable to showcase their cultural traits hence remain unknown to the public. It is also concerning, that such cultural characteristics if not appreciated and preserved may be lost with time. As future generations seek to connect with those outside their own community.

Peace building needs cohesive environment

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Delivering a talk at the BIDTI, the former Defence Minister of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Prof. Selmo Cikotić stated that a cohesive environment is needed to create peace. Explaining the background of negotiating a settlement in his country, he mentioned that during the final two years of the war the parties to the conflict were unwilling to accept any peace proposals. Further, despite the end of hostilities in 1994, peace talks did not take place immediately. In that sense, he stressed that to negotiate peace, many aspects are required; not only military but a coherence of systems viz., economic, communication, transport, education, healthcare etc.

A gathering of officials from the Tri Forces and interested participants attended the special guest lecture by Professor Selmo Cikotić on 4th July 2019 at the BIDTI. The lecture was organised in collaboration with the Secretariat for Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM).