News Highlights
Sri Lankan cabinet green lighted two long pending Connectivity Project
- Flights from Jaffna to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu
- And a ferry service from Kankesanthurai in Jaffna to Karaikal in Puducherry.
Connecting Points
Background
- The transport services linking Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lanka were in use until 1970s
- 2009 : A proposal to reestablish connectivity made at the end of Civil War
- Colombo rejected the Proposal
- 2019: The Palaly airport, previously used as a military airfield, reopened for international civilian flights in November 2019 and operated three Air Traffic Requirements (ATR) flights between Jaffna and Chennai.
- Airport shut down once again due to the pandemic
Significance of the Project
- This connectivity projects is a part of India’s wishlist for long
- Build more people to people linkages between the two countries
- Also help to boost economic activity in Sri Lanka’s Tamil north, which was the main battlefield of the country’s long civil war and has been slow to recover.
- Bring pilgrims from south India for temple tourism to the northern parts of Sri Lanka.
- Tourists from south India could provide valuable foreign exchange to Sri Lanka’s troubled economy.
India-Srilanka Economic Relation
- After the United States and the United Kingdom, India is Sri Lanka’s third-largest export market.
- ISFTA (India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement): The deal, which went into force in March 2000, has benefited more than 60% of Sri Lanka’s exports.
- In the SAARC, Sri Lanka is one of India’s most important trading partners.
- Cooperation in development
- Line of Credit
- India involved in a variety of development projects in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka receives almost a sixth of the overall development credit awarded by India.
- Recently India gave $1 billion to Sri Lanka to counter the financial crisis.
- Partnership for Development
- India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka has traditionally been demand-driven, with projects spanning social infrastructure such as education, health, housing, clean water, and sanitation, as well as industrial growth.
- Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI)
- From 2005 to 2019, India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) totaled roughly $ 1.7 billion. For example, Trincomalee Special Economic Zone developed by India in Sri Lanka.
- Fishing Sector
- Considered Projects related to provide fishing equipment to fishermen on Sri Lanka’s east coast
- Healthcare
- India has provided medical equipment to hospitals in Hambantota and Point Pedro, as well as four cutting-edge ambulances to the Central Province.
- Power Sector
- Civil Nuclear deal between India and Sri Lanka in 2014.
- Line of Credit
Content Source: Indian Express