{"id":37742,"date":"2023-10-17T05:40:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T00:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37742"},"modified":"2025-04-23T01:13:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:43:42","slug":"india-srilanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-srilanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Bolstering Bilateral Ties Between India and Sri Lanka: After 40 years, India Sri Lanka Ferry Services Restarted"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>Maritime Linkage Between India and Sri Lanka<\/li>\n<li>Potential Impact of the New Service<\/li>\n<li>Operational Challenges<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>An age-old sea route between India and Sri Lanka has been rejuvenated with the inauguration of a passenger ferry service &#8211; a High Speed Craft, named \u2018Cheriyapani\u2019, from Nagapattinam (TN) to Kankesanthurai in Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n<li>The initiative is aimed at bolstering bilateral ties, boosting tourism, increasing people-to-people relations and is expected to benefit local traders on both shores.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0Maritime Linkage Between India and Sri Lanka:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Indo-Ceylon Express or Boat Mail &#8211; a train &#8211; ran between Chennai and Colombo via the Thoothukudi port from the early 1900s up until 1982.\n<ul>\n<li>Passengers from Chennai would get onto the train and then transfer to a coal-powered steam ferry in Dhanushkodi, which would take them to Talaimannar in roughly two hours.<\/li>\n<li>However, the civil war in Sri Lanka resulted in the halting of these services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The resumption of ferry services has been on the cards for quite some time, especially after the war ended in 2009.<\/li>\n<li>A MoU concerning passenger transportation by sea was signed in 2011 and a similar service was launched.\n<ul>\n<li>However, it did not last for more than six months due to poor response.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Attempts were also made to establish services from Rameswaram to Talaimannar and Karaikal to Kankesanthurai. Various challenges kept these proposals from materialising.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Potential Impact of the New Service:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>By providing a transportation option, the ferry can amplify religious tourism in the coastal regions of both countries.<\/li>\n<li>From India, travellers can access significant religious sites in Colombo and the southern parts of Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n<li>Indian pilgrim centres such as Nagapattinam, Nagore, Velankanni, Thirunallar, and temple towns such as Thanjavur, Madurai, and Tiruchi are expected to see an influx of Lankan tourists.<\/li>\n<li>Beyond religious tourism, the services would boost regional commerce and trade.<\/li>\n<li>Anticipating the influx of travellers, the state government of Tamil Nadu is ramping up infrastructural developments.\n<ul>\n<li>For example, the Nagapattinam port, under the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board, was upgraded recently with funds worth Rs 8 crore from the Union Ministry of External Affairs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Launching the service, the Indian PM said that connectivity is not only about bringing two cities closer but also brings two countries, its people closer.<\/li>\n<li>Sri Lankan President called the revival of the ferry service an important step towards strengthening connectivity between India and Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Operational Challenges:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Shipping Corporation of India\u2019s (SCI) initial plan to run services every day for 10 days has been rescheduled to operate thrice a week.<\/li>\n<li>While the onset of the northeast monsoon is one of the reasons being cited, sources at Nagapattinam port said the ticket fare (~Rs 7,670) and poor ticketing systems are also a challenge.<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, the ticket rates should be reduced and booking should be made available on popular travel sites if the service is meant to succeed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1) Write a short note on India Sri Lanka relations?<\/h3>\n<p>Sri Lanka is India&#8217;s largest trade partner in South Asia. India in turn is Sri Lanka&#8217;s largest trade partner globally. Trade between the two countries grew particularly rapidly after the entry into force of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement in March 2000.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) What is the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka?<\/h3>\n<p>Passed in 1987 as a part of the India-Lanka accord, the 13th amendment created the Provincial Council system in Sri Lanka and devolved powers over land, the police, education, health, agriculture, housing and finances to the provinces.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/india-sri-lanka-ferry-service-restarted-opportunities-challenges-8986549\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>After 40 years, India Sri Lanka ferry services restarted: opportunities, challenges<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An age-old sea route between India and Sri Lanka has been rejuvenated with the inauguration of a passenger ferry service<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}