President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed senior members of the Indian Government that the Sri Lanka Parliament, following recommendations from a special Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), will decide on the proposal to build a land bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka, The Sunday Morning learns.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, during a meeting with President Wickremesinghe on Thursday (20) in New Delhi, had underscored the importance of developing connectivity between the two countries. Wickremesinghe had also agreed that connectivity was important for the two countries.
It is learnt that President Wickremesinghe had proposed the launch of a fully-fledged ferry service between Sri Lanka and India, where vehicles too could be taken between the two countries.
A highly-placed Government source told The Sunday Morning that the Indian side had proposed the building of a land bridge connecting the two countries and the President had observed that it would depend on approval by the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Wickremesinghe, it is learnt, had told the Indian External Affairs Minister that the proposal would be put before Parliament and a special PSC would be tasked with studying the matter and making recommendations to Parliament.
President Wickremesinghe had also conveyed this message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the meeting between the two leaders on Friday (21).
India’s External Affairs Ministry Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told the media last week following Wickremesinghe’s meeting with Jaishankar that the two countries were exploring new ways of improving connectivity between India and Sri Lanka.