Sri Lanka can reap benefits from India’s fast track industrialization: Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe

The industrialization of India is happening fast, especially in some areas like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu

April 23, 2023

President Wickremesinghe sees the benefits of India’s industrialization

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that amid India’s industrialization, which is on the fast track, Sri Lanka can reap the benefits, and plan to become an air and sea hub in the region.

Addressing the 30-year development plan of the Colombo North Port workshop here, Wickremesinghe highlighted the importance of probing the development in India to find the connectivity that is going to take place between India and Sri Lanka and pointed out the opportunities that India’s southern neighbor would receive.

“By 2050, India will be the most populous country in the world. From 1.4 billion, it will be up to 1.7 billion people. The industrialization of India is happening fast, especially in some areas. You find Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other one in southern India, especially in Tamil Nadu,” Wickremesinghe said on Friday.

“But this is the beginning. From there it should spread to other areas. So, industrial manufacturing is now taking place in India. It still has not reached the level that China reached somewhere in 2010. It still has to go there. So, if at all at some stage, it will be that the progress will be a not arithmetic but geometrical progression,” Wickremesinghe stated.

“So, we will have the development in India. Then what is the connectivity that’s going to take place between India and Sri Lanka. Our closest point is in the north. Are we going to have a role in the role of ferries? Are we going to have more permanent structures? These are issues that we have to resolve and will also determine the viability of our ports, especially the port of Colombo. So, in looking at the port there are only two issues that came to my mind.

“Firstly, it is the environment, especially the impact on fishing that we have to take seriously. Because before you start building you have to get the support of the people in the area,” the Sri Lanka President said.

Wickremesinghe said that in its journey to make Sri Lanka a hub and a developed country within the next 25 years, the island nation has to look at the development in India and the region including Bangladesh, Iran, and the entire Makran coast.

“With the Trincomalee Port, we are discussing with India on the development of the Trincomalee Port on the basis that in the next 25 years, there will be vast development in the Bay of Bengal, both on the Indian side, the Bangladeshi side, Malaysia and even Myanmar.

“So we have to look at the Trincomalee Port and its capacity to be a point for cruise tourism in the Bay of Bengal.”

He said the island nation with over 22 million has to think of the future, what we will do in the next 25 years, and how we are going ahead to make this a developed country. We have to look at the developments in India, Bangladesh, in Iran, and total, in assessing the role that Sri Lanka has to play as a hub, which is important.

“As it is now, people have a very bright forecast for India, and that’s possible if it can be achieved,” Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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