Amid Winds and Waves – Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean with Professor Gamini Keerawella, Sunday, November 16, 2025.

We all shape our present and future decisions based on our past experiences. The same applies to our nation, yet awareness of this among our people remains low. This public conversation is a perfect example of how we can educate our citizens about our resources, why we have become a focus of interest for many other countries, and what we can expect given the current geopolitical forces working in various directions to advance their own world order. Please listen, learn, and share with others who may benefit. Ultimately, this will help our nation stay vigilant—as one united people—against the rising tides that may threaten us. By learning how to mitigate these challenges and by fostering friendly, collaborative relationships with those around us, we strengthen our position as a small nation in the middle of the Indian Ocean. You will now understand why we have become a “pearl” to many outsiders, and why we, as citizens, must avoid weakening our stance through petty quarrels in local politics.

Discussion was focused on the following themes

සාකච්ඡා අවධානය පහත සඳහන් මාතෘකා කෙරෙහි

பின்வரும் கருப்பொருள்களில் கலந்துரையாடல் கவனம் செலுத்தும்.

1.     Why the Indian Ocean matters for Sri Lanka

2.     Reading the Indian Ocean from the shores of Sri Lanka

3.     Analytical lenses for a Sri Lankan perspective

4.     Dual strategic heritage: History and Geography

5.     Small-state strategy: Navigating asymmetry through ambiguity

6.     What We Have Learnt?

1.     ඉන්දියානු සාගරය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැදගත් වන්නේ ඇයි

2.     ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වෙරළ තීරයේ සිට ඉන්දියානු සාගරය කියවීම

3.     ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයකට විශ්ලේෂණාත්මක කාච

4.     ද්විත්ව උපායමාර්ගික උරුමය: ඉතිහාසය සහ භූගෝලය

5.     කුඩා රාජ්‍ය උපාය මාර්ගය: අසමමිතික තලයක ව්‍යාකූලත්වය හරහා යාත්‍රා කිරීම

6.     අප ඉගෙන ගත් දේවල සාරාංශය?

1.   இலங்கைக்கு இந்தியப் பெருங்கடல் ஏன் முக்கியமானது

2.   இலங்கையின் கரையிலிருந்து இந்தியப் பெருங்கடலைப் படித்தல்

3.   இலங்கைக் கண்ணோட்டத்திற்கான பகுப்பாய்வு லென்ஸ்கள்

4.   இரட்டை மூலோபாய பாரம்பரியம்: வரலாறு மற்றும் புவியியல்

5.   சிறிய-மாநில உத்தி: தெளிவின்மை மூலம் சமச்சீரற்ற தன்மையை வழிநடத்துதல்

6.   நாம் என்ன கற்றுக்கொண்டோம்?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RoT2Ymi9e8