New Delhi: The history of India and Sri Lanka is very old. Now there is a plan to connect the two countries by land. A bridge will be built for this in the sea. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the survey regarding the proposed land link between India and Sri Lanka is in the final stage. The Sri Lankan President took stock of the development work in the north-eastern district of Mannar. The first phase of studying the possibilities of the plan has been completed and the last phase will also be completed soon.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said that India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will visit Colombo. However, no formal announcement has been made by India yet. If this visit of the Foreign Minister is confirmed, then this will be his first visit after the formation of the new government. During this, the proposal to connect the two countries by road and the possibility of power grid connection will be discussed.
It is worth noting that during his visit to India in July 2023, Wickremesinghe had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During this, talks were held on the development of the bridge between the two countries. At that time, the central government had said that the proposal for land connectivity was given by Sri Lanka. This proposal includes creating land connectivity from India to Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee and Colombo ports. If a bridge is built between India and Sri Lanka, it will be the first time since the Ramayana period. The religious text Ramayana describes that Lord Rama built a bridge over the sea to go to Sri Lanka, which is known as Ram Setu.
There is news in the Sri Lankan media that the controversial issue of Indians fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters will also be raised, including bottom trawling. The Palk Strait is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, which is a rich fishing area for fishermen of both countries. Here fishermen of both countries are often arrested for inadvertently entering each other’s waters. This issue is quite controversial, so it is also to be discussed.
