Sri Lanka PM Amarasuriya pitches deep-water ports as gateways to India’s global trade ambitions

New Delhi: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, on a three-day visit to India, positioned her nation’s strategic deep-water ports as vital gateways to bolster India’s burgeoning trade ambitions and firm up economic ties between the two countries. Sri Lanka has three key ports: Colombo in the southwest, Hambantota in the south, and Trincomalee in the northeastthat handle the country’s trade with the world but also are strategically located on key global shipping lines in the Indian Ocean. Speaking at a civic reception hosted by the Think Tank, India Foundation, she said, “Sri Lanka seeks to develop as a maritime hub for the Indian Ocean Region” and the country can be a “natural cost-efficient hub" for India’s export and import trade with the world using the “deep-water and efficient ports located in the east-west shipping lanes”.

While Colombo port handles the largest amount of trade in the country, Hambantota has become the emerging hub, and Trincomalee is one of the world’s deepest natural harbours. India is playing a pivotal role in Trincomalee, developing its deep-water port and oil tank farm as a regional energy and trade hub. The PM pointed out, “Our ports can continue to be developed further as gateways to India’s trade. Being India’s closest maritime neighbour, Sri Lanka can be a natural complement and partner to India achieving its ‘Viksit Bharat’ goal.”

PM Amarasuriya met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visited IIT Delhi and her alma mater, the Hindu College.

She emphasised that Colombo is committed to “deepening our economic partnership” through negotiations on the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement which “we are hopeful of recommencing soon”. The Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) is a proposed bilateral pact between India and Sri Lanka aimed at deepening economic ties beyond the existing India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA). The ISFTA, signed in 1998 and operational since March 2000, was the first such agreement for both nations and has boosted bilateral trade, with India’s exports to Sri Lanka reaching approximately USD 4.1 billion and Sri Lanka’s exports to India at USD 1.4 billion in FY 2023-24. ETCA seeks to expand this framework by emphasising services trade, investments, technology transfer etc. India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner, largest source of tourism, and a significant investor.

The PM fondly recalled her visit to the Hindu College in Delhi University, pointing how her visit to the Indian national capital has been “a personal homecoming” because of this. She was a student of Sociology at Hindu College from 1991-1994 after she got Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarship. She said, “The classrooms in Delhi taught me as much about society as the city itself through its diversity, its debates, and its deep sense of history.” PM Amarasuriya, who also holds the education portfolio pointed to “India’s sense of generosity in choosing to invest in the education of students from different countries including Sri Lanka” and by “educating and empowering our youth and through capacity building” India helps “us to strengthen understanding between our peoples and strengthen our institutions which is important for shared growth, peace, and prosperity”.

She also highlighted the “deep concerns” of Colombo over Indian fishermen fishing in Sri Lankan waters and said that this matter “requires sensitive handling and sustainable solutions” with the Indian side. Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu state frequently cross into Sri Lankan waters, leading to arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy for illegal fishing. Sri Lanka;s concerns regarding the Indian fishermen issue include the ecological damage from Indian bottom trawling, which depletes fish stocks and harms marine habitats, threatening the livelihoods of northern Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen.