The passenger ferry service from Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India, to Kankesanthurao, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, was inaugurated on 14 October 2023. It is expected to bring the two nations closer together and benefit local traders of both countries, boost tourism, and increase people-to-people relations.

Cordelia Express, the first luxury cruise ship between India and Sri Lanka, was flagged off on 5 June 2023 from Chennai Port, India. It set sail for Hambantota Port, Sri Lanka, and Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, and sailed back to Chennai on 9 June. Mr. Jurgen Bailom, Chief Executive Officer of the Cordelia Express, noted that the cruise ship is set to carry 50,000 passengers from India to Sri Lanka in the next four months.

The Sri Lanka Navy has undertaken facility expansion of the Kankesanthurai harbor, in support of the passenger ferry service launch between Sri Lanka and India. The Navy will build a passenger terminal for immigration and customs clearance. These improvements aim to help increase traffic and provide better infrastructure.

India and Sri Lanka are set to begin a passenger ferry service in April 2023. The ferry service between Karaikal, Puducherry, India, and Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, will commence on 29 April under the new passenger ferry program.

Direct flight services between Chennai, India, and Jaffna, Sri Lanka, resumed on 12 December 2022, after being halted for close to three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Resumption of flights is expected to boost tourist arrivals between the two countries.

Mr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of the Government of India, held a virtual meeting with Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, Finance Minister of the Government of Sri Lanka on 15 January 2022. The meeting reiterated India’s continued support for Sri Lanka, and emphasized that both countries stand to gain from forming closer economic interlinkages.

Construction of Colombo's first elevated highway commenced on 10 September 2019 with Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe laying the foundation stone to mark the start of construction. The project will help alleviate traffic congestion in Colombo’s densely populated areas, improve last-mile connectivity between the country’s expressway network and Colombo’s international port, provide better logistics services for freight operations, and facilitate regional trade.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will construct a new administrative building, according to Mr. Sagala Ratnayake, Minister, Sri Lanka Ports, Shipping, and Southern Development. SLPA’s old premises along the Colombo harbor will be vacated to make way for the construction of the South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation Port Access Elevated Highway.

India could play a crucial role in interconnecting regional energy networks. In this commentary, Mr. Mahendra P. Lama outlines what India needs to approach energy security projects in India and its neighboring countries.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Southern Development and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority held its final workshop on a National Port Master Plan on 7 March 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The plan is supported by a technical assistance project by the Asian Development Bank financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena and Mr. Takehiko Nakao, President, Asian Development Bank, signed three agreements, including a $300-million loan to construct about 5.3 kilometers of an elevated toll highway linking Colombo's international port and the country’s expressway network under the South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation Port Access Elevated Highway Project.

A toll highway to be built in central Colombo will ease traffic congestion, improve connectivity, and facilitate trade logistics in Sri Lanka. The Asian Development Bank has approved a $300 million loan to help in the construction of about 5.3 kilometers of the highway, under the SASEC Port Access Elevated Highway Project.

In her keynote address at the dialogue on BiMSTEC at 20—Priorities for the Future, Ms. Grace Asirwatham, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka, reflects on the prospects for connectivity and prosperity among BIMSTEC member countries and explores the organization's priorities, including trade, transport, energy, and climate change.

Finance ministers and senior officials of member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka met on 5 May at Yokohama, Japan, at the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) 50th Annual General Meeting.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India on 25-29 April 2017, for discussion with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of bilateral issues and matters of mutual interest. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe welcomed the signing of the MoU for Cooperation in Economic Projects, which outlines the agenda for bilateral economic cooperation.

Bangladesh has the potential to become a transport hub for India, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Myamar, according to Mr. AMA Muhith, Finance Minister, Bangladesh. Turning Bangladesh into a regional and transshipment hub would enhance economic cooperation and result in collective economic growth for the countries, Mr. Muhith said at the SASEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, India.

The Colombo Shipping Corporation is planning to re-establish ferry linkages under public-private partnership. A SAARC Meeting of Experts from India, Maldives and Sri Lanka, recommended resumption of ferry services between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. 

Mr. S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, India, called on Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena to discuss potential partnerships between India and Sri Lanka in sectors including energy, infrastructure, and transport, and Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to further discuss boosting bilateral trade and investment.

River management provides opportunities to release regenerative capacities of the people and environment of basin-wide areas. The following article suggests South Asian countries cooperate to fulfill a promise of greater sustainability. Cooperation in water resource management can serve as a catalyst for broader regional cooperation, economic integration, and development.

South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) investment projects increased to a cumulative $7.66 billion in the areas of transport, energy, trade facilitation, and ICT with the recent approval of India’s Bihar New Ganga Bridge Project. To date, 40 SASEC-supported projects are helping member countries strengthen regional connectivity infrastructure, promote economic growth, and foster regional cooperation. In addition, there are now 71 technical assistance projects worth $66.14 mi

The BIMSTEC free trade agreement (FTA) currently under negotiation by the inter-regional organization could benefit the region's trade by helping operationalize production links among member countries and eliminating non-tariff measures within a mutually agreed timeframe. BIMSTEC members are also considering a single visa proposal and extension of the BBIN transport agreement to Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) signed a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) meant to allow smooth passage of goods and passenger vehicles in each other’s territories. In this blog post, Sanjay Kathuria, Lead Economist and Coordinator, South Asia Regional Integration, Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank, asks if South Asia is truly ready for such a regional agreement.

Mr. Hun Kim, Director General, South Asia Department, ADB, describes how partnership of 6 South Asian countries through the ADB-supported South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program is helping propel economic growth in South Asia, amidst an uncertain regional and global economic climate, by working to increase trade volumes to reduce the number of impoverished people in the region.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Development Fund (SDF) and SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry have pledged to collaborate and co-finance projects under the SDF's social, economic and infrastructure windows to promote regional connectivity across the SAARC region.

Dr. Selim Reihan notes that drivers of political economy can impact the region's integration agenda. In this essay, Dr. Raihan highlights the importance of exploring the political economy of regional integration to generate a better assessment of the factors driving and constraining regional integration, and create broader awareness among stakeholders to stimulate a more realistic and effective regional policy design and processes.

The first annual bilateral consultation between the Government of Bhutan and the Government of Sri Lanka, held on 16 November 2015 in Colombo, discussed cooperation in regional and multilateral forums, and air connectivity. Membership of regional organizations and frameworks, including SAARC and BIMSTEC, was emphasized by the two countries as one way to strengthen links and enhance trade and economic cooperation.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lanka High Commissioner Yasoja Gunasekera discussed a possible scope of cooperation during a courtesy call paid by the High Commissioner to the Prime Minister in October. Prime Minister Hasina encouraged more Sri Lankan investments and joint ventures in Bangladesh's 22 special economic zones. Bangladesh is also considering introducing a sea route to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has extended an invitation for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Sri Lanka in May or June 2016 to sign an agreement on economic and technological cooperation. The two Prime Ministers held discussions on enhancing economic ties between India and Sri Lanka and resuming ferry services during Prime Minister Wickremesinghe's visit to New Delhi, India on 14-16 September 2015.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is considering a proposal to establish a rail bridge linking Rameswaram, a coastal pilgrim center in Tamil Nadu and Thalaimannar, Sri Lanka. The two countries would be linked if the project materializes.

The construction of a sea-bridge and an underwater tunnel linking the 23 kilometer stretch between Talaimannar, Sri Lanka and Dhanushkodi, India is under discussion, according to India’s Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari. The sea bridge would help expand the trans-South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation road and transport network.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, accompanied by several Cabinet Ministers, engaged in bilateral talks with the visiting Prime Minister and Bhutanese delegation. Both countries pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation and establish air links between Paro and Colombo.

Direct flights between Nepal and Sri Lanka—through capital cities Kathmandu and Colombo—are scheduled to resume in early 2015. This move is expected to boost connectivity, further increasing trade and tourism between the two countries.