{"id":190889,"date":"2022-06-16T21:22:17","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T15:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=190889"},"modified":"2022-06-16T21:22:17","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T15:52:17","slug":"in-sri-lankan-crisis-a-window-of-economic-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/in-sri-lankan-crisis-a-window-of-economic-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"In Sri Lankan crisis, a window of economic opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News:<\/strong> Recently, in an interview with an Indian TV channel, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, talked about significant aspect of India-Sri Lanka relations<\/p>\n

Proposal for forging closer ties between Sri Lanka and the southern parts of India – the sub-regional integration<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are various commonalities<\/strong> between Sri Lanka and the southern parts of India.<\/p>\n

The south India-Sri Lanka sub-region<\/strong> can be developed as a single market<\/strong>. It would provide more opportunities<\/strong> for the economic growth<\/strong> of both countries.<\/p>\n

In addition, in 2016, the Sri-Lankan PM had also proposed the tri-nation economic convergence,<\/strong> encompassing Singapore too.<\/p>\n

What are the reasons behind present bonhomie<\/strong> in the India-Sri Lanka relations?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The present economic crisis in Sri Lanka has pushed it closer to India for immediate relief.<\/p>\n

For the last few months, the Indian media\u2019s regular coverage<\/strong> of the crisis has led to better understanding<\/strong> and even created a sense of empathy<\/strong> in India about the plight of the neighbouring country<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

India, as part of its \u2018Neighbourhood First\u2019 policy<\/strong>, has extended $3.5 billion aid to Sri Lanka to help secure food, health and energy.<\/p>\n

The Government of Sri Lanka<\/strong> and the Export-Import Bank of India<\/strong> have signed an agreement for a $55-million short term Line of Credit. <\/strong><\/p>\n

India\u2019s Finance Minister has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF)<\/strong> to provide urgent assistance to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

On its part, Tamil Nadu<\/strong> decided to provide aid in the form of rice, life-saving drugs and milk powder.<\/p>\n

What is India\u2019 foreign policy challenges?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Some sections of the Sinhalese<\/strong> believe that \u201cIndia has been a threat to them. It can be a threat to them in future too\u201d<\/strong>. For example, South Indian rulers had invaded Sri Lanka during ancient times. In the late 20th<\/sup> century, the Indian government supported Tamil rebels.<\/p>\n

Despite India\u2019s open willingness<\/strong> to take part in the development of Sri Lanka after the civil war, the scale of its involvement<\/strong> has been modest.<\/p>\n

The Sri Lankan government, in the past, had unilaterally scrapped a tripartite agreement<\/strong> signed with India and Japan for the development of Colombo\u2019s East Container Terminal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another project, a collaboration between NTPC Limited<\/strong> and the Ceylon Electricity Board<\/strong>, was cancelled.<\/p>\n

Further, the Sri Lanka government has not shown much political will in other projects such as the development of the Kankesanthurai harbour<\/strong> and the expansion of the Palaly airport<\/strong> in Jaffna.<\/p>\n

The project of building a sea bridge<\/strong> and tunnel<\/strong>, connecting Rameshwaram<\/strong> to Talaimannar<\/strong>, remains on paper despite India\u2019s readiness for it.<\/p>\n

Several popular brands of south Indian restaurants<\/strong> and retail textile establishments<\/strong> have not opened their branches in Sri Lanka, despite their presence outside India or overseas.<\/p>\n

Way Forward<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Sri Lanka Crisis provides an opportunity to bring Indian and Sri Lankan societies closer. It is a prerequisite<\/strong> to achieving an economic union<\/strong> between Sri Lanka and the southern States of India<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

India has received the projects for development of the West Container Terminal<\/strong>, the Trincomalee oil tank farm<\/strong> and a couple of renewable projects.<\/p>\n

Recently, the Sri Lankan Cabinet cleared two connectivity proposals<\/strong>: flights<\/strong> from Jaffna to Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu, and a ferry service<\/strong> from Kankesanthurai to Karaikal in Puducherry.<\/p>\n

There is enormous scope for collaboration between the two countries in the area of infrastructure development.<\/strong><\/p>\n

– For example, the Sri Lanka\u2019s electricity grid can be linked with India\u2019s Grid. India already has cross-border energy trade<\/strong> with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s interests would also be served by developing the east coast<\/strong> of Sri Lanka, especially the Trincomalee-Batticaloa belt<\/strong>, whose potential for tourism<\/strong>, commerce<\/strong>, trade<\/strong> and industry<\/strong> is well known.<\/p>\n

The regular movement of people<\/strong> and goods should be allowed again on the traditional sea routes of Thoothukudi-Colombo<\/strong> and Rameshwaram-Talaimannar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Indian side should dispel the apprehension among Sinhalese about India being a threat. It can be done by facilitating greater people-to-people interaction<\/strong> like pilgrimages to Buddhist Sites.<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on an article \u201cIn Sri Lankan crisis, a window of economic opportunity\u201d published in the \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 16th<\/sup> June 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News: Recently, in an interview with an Indian TV channel, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, talked about significant aspect of India-Sri Lanka relations Proposal for forging closer ties between Sri Lanka and the southern parts of India – the sub-regional integration There are various commonalities between Sri Lanka and the southern parts of… Continue reading In Sri Lankan crisis, a window of economic opportunity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10498],"class_list":["post-190889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704834903},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}