India and Sri Lanka have the longest continuous historical link, and both the nations were culturally and historically very close "upto this day", Sri Lankan Prime Minister D M Jayaratne said here today.
In his convocation address at Manipal University, he also spoke about enhancing Sri Lanka's "unbroken lineage" of friendship with India.
Noting the recent success of India's mission to Mars, he said it has demonstrated the country's rank in the world in the field of education.
Observing that education could empower our huge human capital to be a major constructive force to drive the growth of the economics as a whole, Jayaratne said, "Now we are living in the 21st century. High quality higher education has the potential to find reasonable solutions for the common problem that we are facing today."
"Positive attitude is also important to address the social problems of humanity," said Jayaratne, whose daughter has graduated from the University.
He told the graduates to be responsible citizens and make it their duty to concern themselves with moral dimension, not only of what they do, but of the way they assess what was going on around them.
"If your work is not guided by morality and ethics, your success even if achieved, will not be authentic. Do not accept corruption as a way of life. Stick to your principles and have faith in the strength of wilpower and determination," he said.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister also said it should be our collective efforts to progressively move towards making the world a better place to live while respecting others.
"After all, we are all in this world to play our respective roles to make the world a peaceful and happy place for the future generation as well. It depends on how we play our roles," he said.
