India is working on setting up a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline from Kochi to Colombo to bring down electricity costs in Sri Lanka, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha said.
Jha expressed these views at a reception hosted at India House on the occasion of the 75th Republic Day of India.
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and a number of Ministers were among the guests at the event.
“Since July 2023, we have started daily flights between Jaffna and Chennai, and launched ferry services between India and Sri Lanka. We are working on building mechanisms to establish the India-Sri Lanka Connectivity Corridor. We are also advancing multiple energy initiatives. These include the power grid connectivity eventually to enable Sri Lanka to export power to India; the multi-product pipeline, which will boost our shared interest in developing Trincomalee as an economic hub; and we are also working to set up a virtual LNG pipeline from Kochi to Colombo to bring down electricity costs in Sri Lanka,” he said.
He noted that India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner and in recent years India has also been the largest foreign investor in Sri Lanka.
“India continues to be the largest source of foreign tourists in Sri Lanka. We hope to enhance our economic partnership and enhance Sri Lanka’s export potential through early conclusion of the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement, just as the FTA opened new export opportunities for Sri Lanka to India, which now stands at more than 1 billion dollars,” the High Commissioner said.
The Indian diplomat said that India and Sri Lanka are natural partners and are irreplaceable, indispensable, and inseparable as partners.
“Our interests in matters of security or development are intertwined and interlinked. The huge potential our partnership holds and the tangible impact it can have on the lives of the common people drives me to work harder to further deepen and strengthen it. I look forward to your support and cooperation in this regard,” he said.
Tourism Minister Harin Fernando was the Chief Guest at the event.