Minister of  Minister of Culture, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has emphasized on age old bonds and people to people links between India and Sri Lanka. In her opening remarks at the Symposium on “Relic Worship: History, Archaeology and Religion in Colombo today, she said, the two countries are the closest of neighbours, with a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interactions over a period of 2500 years .

She expressed confidence that the second exposition of the sacred Kapilavastu Relics in Sri Lanka , which is being held after a gap of 34 years will reinforce the common cultural heritage shared between India and Sri Lanka and will further strengthen the people-to-people bonds between our countries.