India, SL to strengthen connectivity further
The Governments of India and Sri Lanka have decided to promote and strengthen connectivity in all its dimensions, be it physical connectivity, power and energy connectivity or digital connectivity.
The newest addition to Sri Lanka’s skyline, ITC, is built with an investment of about USD 500 million. The West Container Terminal at Colombo Port and Renewable energy projects in the North are some other shining examples of recent Indian investments in Sri Lanka.
These projects are a symbol of the trust that Indian companies repose in Sri Lankan economy and its people, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha told the All India Management Association (AIMA) event held yesterday in Colombo Daily flights between Jaffna and Chennai, launch of the ferry services between India and Northern Sri Lanka after a gap of over 4 decades are all necessary steps in this direction.
This is in addition to the multiple flights to and from multiple Indian destinations by both Indian and Sri Lankan carriers.
“The centrepiece of our recent approach on connectivity will be the India-Sri Lanka connectivity Corridor. Both Governments are working to create structures to advance this game changing initiative. Greater connectivity will help in boosting people-to-people ties and enhance tourism.”
“ India has traditionally been the largest source of tourists to Sri Lanka and this trend continues. I hope that you all get some time to visit at least a few tourist sites in Sri Lanka and become Ambassadors for Sri Lanka tourism once you go back.”
“In the digital sphere, our Governments are working on the launch of UPI payment system in Sri Lanka, promotion of trade settlements in INR and Unique Digital Identity project.”
“These initiatives will help in greater digitisation and economic integration. We have also offered assistance to bring the digital public infrastructure to Sri Lanka to enable the kind of transformation that we have witnessed in India in the last decade.
“On energy, too, we are advancing multiple energy connectivity initiatives. These include the power grid connectivity eventually to enable Sri Lanka to export power to India; the multiproduct pipeline to Trincomalee which will help advance the Trincomalee Tank Farms and Harbour interests; and we are also working to set up a virtual LNG pipeline from Kochi to Colombo.
These are in addition to the power projects that I have mentioned earlier, which along with the NTPC solar power project at Sampur promises to transform the Sri Lankan energy mix and profile.
India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner. In 2022, bilateral merchandise trade between India and Sri Lanka stood at USD 6 billion.
The post India, SL to strengthen connectivity further appeared first on DailyNews.