PM Modi claims that the resumption of boat service between India and Sri Lanka after 40 years “brings alive historical, cultural links.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe inaugurated a ferry service connecting India and Sri Lanka on Saturday, nearly four decades after the last similar service was cancelled amid civil war in the islet nation.
The ferry plies between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna. “Connectivity isn’t only about bringing two metropolises closer. It also brings our countries closer, our people closer and our hearts closer, ” Modi said in a videotape communication, in which he recalled Nagapattinam’s rich history of maritime trade.
He substantiated the song Sindhu Nadhiyin Misai by the iconic Tamil minstrel, Subramania Bharati, that touches on a ground between the two countries. “ The ferry service brings alive all those literal and artistic links, ” Modi said.
In his video message, Wickremesinghe called it an important step towards strengthening the connectivity between India and Sri Lanka. “People of both countries have travelled across the Palk Strait for many years, The ferry services operated in the past were suspended due to the civil war in Sri Lanka. Now, the connectivity has been re-established,” he said.
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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who also virtually addressed the inauguration, termed it a strategic initiative. “The launch of the ferry service is a truly big step for boosting people-to-people contacts,” he said.
Emphasising on India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, he said the maritime initiative would foster enhanced connectivity, cooperation, and contact.
The PM also handed a broader perspective on India’s collaboration with Sri Lanka, saying fintech, energy, and digital payments were implicit spheres of collective benefit. The ferry service was revived following Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe’s recent visit to India.
Likewise, he invoked India’s SAGAR( Security and Growth For All in the Region) policy, emphasising the country’s part in maritime security, disaster response, and environmental safety.
The ferry, Jaishankar said, “ underlines the backing India has handed for the Kankesanthurai harbour ”. Historically, the maritime route has been used for numerous centuries, with people from both countries exchanging across the Palk Strait.
It was the civil war in Sri Lanka, which lasted more than three decades, that led to a temporary conclusion of passenger business on the route. Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Tamil Nadu minister E V Velu were also at the event.
