India resumes ferry service to Lanka

Nagapattinam/New Delhi: Forty years after it was disrupted due to civil war in Sri Lanka, ferry services between India and the island republic resumed on Saturday, a move Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as an "important milestone" in strengthening bilateral ties.

Welcoming the resumption of ferry services, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said it will help improve the connectivity, trade and cultural links between the two countries The service between Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai near Jaffna in the northern province of Sri Lanka aims to revive the ancient maritime connection between the two neighbours. The high-speed ferry operated by the Shipping Corporation of India SCI has a capacity of 150 passengers and would cover a distance of about 60 nm (110 km) between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai in about 3.5 hours depending on the sea conditions.

In its inaugural journey, the vessel named Cheriyapani sailed off with 50 passengers to Sri Lanka and will return to India by evening with passengers from the island nation. The passengers on the maiden voyage expressed joy over sailing to Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Modi said ferry service between India and the Sri Lanka will enhance connectivity, promote trade and reinforce the longstanding bonds between the two countries. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described the milestone event as a "big step for people to people contacts between India and Sri Lanka." In a video message, Modi said the service brings alive all historical and cultural connections.

"Connectivity is not only about bringing two cities closer. It also brings our countries closer, our people closer and our hearts closer," he said.

The prime minister said India and Sri Lanka are embarking on a "new chapter in diplomatic and economic relations" and the launch of a ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai is an "important milestone" in strengthening the relations.

Wickremesignhe said the "ferry service is an important step in increasing the connectivity between India and Sri Lanka." "For thousands of years, people have traversed the Palk Strait to travel from the Indian subcontinent to this island and from Sri Lanka back to the Indian subcontinent. This is how our cultures have developed. This is how our trade developed," Wickremesinghe said in a recorded video message at the inauguration of the ferry service.

The milestone event was flagged off jointly by Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. Both the countries will continue to work towards commencement of ferry services between other ports, including the traditional route between Rameswaram- Talaimannar, it said. State Ministers E V Velu and S Raghupathy, too, virtually flagged off the first ferry service.

Jaishankar described the milestone event as a "big step for people to people contacts between India and Sri Lanka." "It is an affirmation of people centric policies of the Modi government that have helped those in Tamil Nadu and in Sri Lanka's northern province," he said.