India and Sri Lanka to consider land link

India and Sri Lanka agreed to consider building a land link between them, they said during President Ranil Wickremesinghe's first visit to India. Establishing "land connectivity" across the Palk Strait would give India access to the key ports of Trincomalee and Colombo and strengthen a "millennia-old relationship", the neighbours said in a strategic document.

Feasibility studies on a land bridge and a petroleum pipeline will be carried out, Modi said. As Sri Lanka saw daily street protests over shortages of food, fuel and medicines, India poured in nearly 4 billion USD in aid. Ranil's two-day visit came a year after he became president following the toppling of his predecessor during an unprecedented economic crisis.