'Positive role for Tamil Diaspora'

Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, Ravinatha Aryasinha said, "It is inevitable that Western governments will soon have to come to a conclusion as to who speaks for the Tamils of Sri Lanka - whether it is those in the Diaspora who are unrepentant, militant and continue to seek an independent 'Tamil Eelam', or whether it is those peace-loving Tamils living both in Sri Lanka as well as abroad, who are ready to move on with other communities that share this country in solidarity. It would be fair to say that while the former continue to live the dream, the latter are the ones who are living the change".

Ambassador Aryasinha made these observations, when he spoke on the theme 'Moderating competing narratives: the challenge of recasting Sri Lanka's image abroad', in delivering the Olcott Oration 2010 at Ananda College, Colombo.

Starting from the premise that "despite the significant improvement in the 'reality' in post-conflict Sri Lanka, there has not been a commensurate improvement in Sri Lanka's image abroad", Ambassador Aryasinha identified Western governments, non-governmental organisations, Sri Lankans abroad, foreigners visiting and doing business with Sri Lanka, and the international media, as constituencies that shape Sri Lanka's image abroad.