India and Sri Lanka agreed on Friday to consider the construction of a land bridge between the two countries, on the occasion of an official visit to New Delhi by Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the first since he came to power in 2022.
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Establishing “a land connection” through the Palk Strait in the Indian Ocean, some 25 kilometers wide in places, would give India access to the key ports of Trincomalee and Colombo and would lead to strengthening “a thousand-year-old relationship”, specified the two neighboring states, in a strategic document, which also evokes the construction of an oil pipeline.
As the Chinese presence grows in Sri Lanka, feasibility studies for this land bridge and an oil pipeline will be carried out, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after their talks.
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s visit comes almost to the day a year after he became President of Sri Lanka. This former Prime Minister succeeded Gotabaya Rajapaksa, driven into exile by demonstrations against the unprecedented economic crisis in Sri Lanka, marked by shortages of essential foodstuffs, food, gasoline, medicines.
India released nearly $4 billion in aid as Colombo defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt.
“Sri Lanka faced many challenges last year, but like an old friend, we have stood with the people of Sri Lanka in this time of crisis,” Modi said.
During talks between the two leaders, New Delhi raised concern about the “Chinese presence” in Sri Lanka, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.
India considers Sri Lanka to be its natural zone of influence and its leaders are concerned about Beijing’s activities on the island and in the region.
“The Sri Lankan side expressed to us that it was respectful of our security and sensitive to our strategic concerns regarding our maritime domain,” Kwatra told the press.
Among the projects mentioned in the strategic document, Mr. Wickremesinghe stressed that the pipeline between the two countries “will ensure a reliable and affordable energy supply in Sri Lanka”.