National Security Adviser and Chief of Staff to the President, Sagala Ratnayaka will visit India to discuss constructing a pivotal land route connecting India and Sri Lanka.
Ratnayaka will be in India on March 27 and 28 to hold talks on bolstering bilateral and economic ties.
A senior Government spokesperson stressed the significance of this landmark land bridge initiative and added that a comprehensive feasibility study was conducted some time ago. According to the findings, the distance between Talaimannar in Sri Lanka and Rameswaram in Southern India spans 23 kilometres.
Following President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, talks were initiated to construct a land route from Talaimannar to Rameswaram in India. This initiative is not limited to vehicular traffic alone – plans include laying a rail track along the sea route which will link the two countries’ rail networks.
Beyond facilitating direct connectivity between the two nations, the project will create an extensive road network within Sri Lanka to streamline travel from Talaimannar to key destinations such as Trincomalee and Colombo. The inaugural phase of the road construction will link Talaimannar to the port city of Trincomalee.
Talks are also under way to link the power transmission systems of the two countries and building an oil pipeline.
