Sri Lankan president Wickremesinghe agrees to be sensitive to India's strategic and security concerns
During PM Modi and Wickremesinghe's private lunch, it is not difficult to assume that China was the elephant in the room as Beijing has been engaging Colombo.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly emphasized to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe during their Friday talks that Colombo must consider India's national security interests before cooperating with a third power and that India was one of the first nations to respond to the island nation's economic crisis in 2022.
President Wickremesinghe is believed to have concurred that Sri Lanka will take India's strategic and security concerns into account. It is reasonable to assume that China was the elephant in the room during PM Modi and President Wickremesinghe's private lunch, which lasted over an hour.
Beijing has been assiduously pursuing Colombo as part of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI), and the island nation is currently burdened with a significant amount of Chinese debt.
While the rest of the world, including China, hesitated during the economic crisis of 2022 , India stepped forward with full financial, food, and oil help to rescue the island nation from the severe political turmoil.
The two leaders decided to take a long-term approach to the bilateral relationship with an emphasis on digital, oil, electricity, road, and possibly train connectivity in the future, even though PM Modi made it clear that India would continue to support Sri Lanka in times of economic hardship.
President Wickremesinghe proposed a 27-kilometer-long prospective Rameswaram-Talai Mannar alignment for a bridge between India and Sri Lanka, and PM Modi quickly endorsed the idea.Because there is only one to three meters of water in this particular area of the Palk Straits, it would be simple to build a bridge there.
In order to improve marine connection, the two nations have chosen to work together to enhance the ports and logistical facilities at Colombo, Trincomalee, and Kankesanthurai. In addition, there was agreement on connectivity for the air, energy, and power, as well as renewable energy.
Despite the fact that the idea of a land bridge was just floated, there is a good chance that the two countries will also be connected by an oil, gas, and power pipeline. Rameswaram is connected to the railroad, exactly as Talai Mannar is on the Sri Lankan side, therefore there is also a chance for a train bridge to be built between the two nations.
Colombo and New Delhi-based experts claim that the two nations will need to play their cards carefully in order to put their long-term plans into action because China has deep ties to the Sri Lankan government and Beijing will make every effort to prevent India from regaining its former influence with the island nation.
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