At its core the Brief is concerned with the question of where growth for Sri Lanka will come from and aims to revive consideration for Indo-Lanka land connectivity as one such avenue for growth. Greater economic integration with India, soon to be the world’s third largest economy, has the potential to accelerate economic development for Sri Lanka as a whole and in some of its most underdeveloped regions, particularly the north and east.
The proposed land bridge between Dhanushkodi in the South-East of Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar in the North-West of Sri Lanka will reduce the time taken and potentially the cost of Indo-Lanka trade. Naturally, this is inherently advantageous given that India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner. However, this will also facilitate Sri Lankan firms integrating with the supply chains of Southern India consisting of some of India’s most economically dynamic states, thereby promoting industrial development in Sri Lanka, particularly in the north and east. Tamil Nadu alone is projected to become a trillion-dollar (USD) economy by 2034, and its manufacturing clusters in textiles and automobiles represent vast supply chains into which Sri Lanka can integrate and industrially develop around.
Furthermore, the land bridge has the potential to improve Colombo Port’s competitiveness in facilitating Indian transshipment, a necessity in positioning Sri Lanka as the gateway to India and, thereby, the hub of the Indian Ocean. Though this also requires addressing port congestion, lagging capacity development, and the unwillingness to allow shipping lines to invest in terminals, all of which are impeding Colombo Port’s attractiveness as a transshipment hub.
Lastly, the land bridge would improve Indian tourist flows – the island’s largest source of tourists – to Sri Lanka. Apart from the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai which resumed in 2024, Indian tourists can only reach the island via air which is the most expensive mode of travel. The land bridge would make it much more affordable for tourists from Southern India to visit Sri Lanka, especially the Northern, North Central, and Eastern provinces which only see a small fraction of Indian tourists. As tourism is labour-intensive, this will increase employment opportunities in these provinces, catalysing local economic activity, and in the sector as a whole. Increasing tourist flows between Sri Lanka and India via land would also increase revenue for Sri Lankan transport services facilitating passenger travel and revenue from tolls.
While Sri Lanka may stand to gain considerably through land connectivity with India, the supposed risks must be assessed beforehand. The likelihood of an Indian invasion is already very low as India simply has no reason to. Additionally, greater economic integration in the form of land connectivity between the two countries would reduce that likelihood further. The misallocation of resources towards the army rather than the navy and the inefficiency of defence expenditure is a far more pressing concern in that regard.
Similarly, concerns that land connectivity would render Sri Lanka economically dependent on India are misplaced. It would maintain or deepen India’s dependence on Colombo Port for facilitating its transshipment and facilitate Sri Lankan industry servicing Southern Indian supply chains. In other words, the economic relations that would arise through land connectivity would increase mutual dependence between Sri Lanka and India instead of leaving Sri Lanka dependent on India.
Moreover, the fear that the land bridge will stoke secession in the north and east stems from a misunderstanding of the root causes of the movement. It was the result of severe Tamil discrimination in the post-independence years and the subsequent unwillingness to accommodate the Tamil community’s desire for a measure of self-governance in the north and east. Hence, addressing Tamil discrimination going forward and allowing for a functional system for the provincial devolution of powers is of significantly greater importance than the unsubstantiated concern that land connectivity will stoke secession.
Though the envisioned threats to sovereignty appear to be overstated, the land bridge may open up Sri Lanka to trafficking, especially in drugs, by land. Nevertheless, the problem persists via maritime routes and there are options available to Sri Lanka in order to mitigate trafficking via land. Many other jurisdictions connected by bridges contend with this problem, such as Malaysia and Singapore via the Johor-Singapore Causeway, from where Sri Lanka can adopt best practices.
Lastly, the concern of damage to the sensitive marine ecosystems surrounding the Palk Strait must be thoroughly investigated through a comprehensive environmental impact assessment with international consultancy. When choosing whether or not to pursue land connectivity with India, the environmental feasibility of the project must be taken into consideration.
Of course, this Brief is unlikely to be an exhaustive assessment of Indo-Lanka land connectivity’s merits and demerits. Nevertheless, given that the economic opportunities appear to outweigh the risks, the takeaway is that renewed consideration of the land bridge is warranted, including an exhaustive study of its merits and demerits, and extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, particularly those in north, northwest, and northeast.
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