Sri Lankan PM Harini Amarasuriya takes a trip down memory lane at her alma mater in Delhi, praising India’s diversity 

The acceptance of diversity and the importance of asking “difficult questions” are enduring memories of India for Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, who began her first official visit to India on Thursday (October 16, 2025) with a walk down memory lane to her alma mater, Delhi University’s Hindu College.

She also met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar — who said he had “discussed India’s continued support to Sri Lanka and strengthening [India-Sri Lanka] cooperation in education & capacity building” — addressed business leaders, and attended a diplomatic reception. On Friday, the Sri Lankan PM will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is expected to discuss deepening economic cooperation and connectivity between the two countries.

Ms. Amarasuriya came to India as a student in 1991, at a time when universities in Sri Lanka were closed due to violence and strikes. She studied Sociology at Hindu College on an Indian government scholarship. Recalling the first time she entered Delhi with “a mixture of dreams, uncertainties, hopes, questions and also nervousness”, she said the city had accepted her and made her feel at home.

This acceptance of diversity, she said, is what makes Delhi unique to her. Three decades later, as she entered the same college gates, she was “filled with nostalgia and also admiration”.

Critical thinking

She thanked her teachers, saying, “They didn’t just teach me theories, but they encouraged me to think critically, to question and to never accept injustice as inevitable.” College conversations about inequality, feminism, and human development felt both urgent and necessary, she recalled.

After graduating from Hindu College, Ms. Amarasuriya pursued her Masters in Australia and completed a PhD in Social Anthropology focusing on child protection and the complex relationship between state and society.

“Reflecting now on my academic journey, whether it was teaching Sociology, or conducting research on dissent, social justice, discrimination, or human rights, I think that the academic bearings that were instilled in me in Hindu College, were never far from me,” she said. “Each of these experiences reinforced a truth that perhaps formed in my mind in Hindu College; that knowledge without action is incomplete and that education obligates us to serve those that have been left behind.” She urged students to “never underestimate the power of asking difficult questions”.

Structural partnership

The India-Sri Lanka partnership is “not episodical” but “structural”, Ms. Amarasuriya said, adding, “It is not a temporary convenience of today, it is a necessity of tomorrow.”

She said that while India has been an “unwavering partner” in Sri Lanka’s journey, supporting its economic recovery, providing critical assistance in times of crisis and standing with Sri Lanka in the pursuit of stability and growth, Sri Lanka has also “consistently upheld her solemn pledge to never permit her soil to be used in a manner that threatens the security of India”.

“The strength of the Sri Lanka-India partnership lies in our collective action, shared commitment towards addressing challenges that transcend borders, whether they involve environmental concerns, economic development, counter-terrorism efforts, maritime issues, or ensuring the work that benefits people of both our countries,” the Sri Lankan PM said. “It would be a pleasure to see increasing student exchanges between Indian and Sri Lankan students, researchers, working to research together in institutions, startups, art, culture and other fields,” she added.

In her welcome speech, Hindu College principal Anju Srivastava said, “True learning builds bridges of understanding between communities, between nations, and across the shared waters that connect us all in South Asia.”

The Sri Lankan PM took a tour of the college, interacted with students, planted two trees, and visited classroom number 27, where she had studied. She visited the Perfumery Lab skill training facility, and the Social and Ethnographic Research Laboratory which the college has decided to name in her honour.