Sri Lanka, Feb. 13 -- In his speech at the seventh Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) in Perth, Australia, on February 10, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe reiterated the plan to build a land bridge between Sri Lanka and India to boost trade and economic integration between the two countries. He had proposed a bridge across the Palk Strait when he was Prime Minister between 2002 and 2004 and named it the "Hanuman Bridge".

Since then, Wickremesinghe has been advocating economic links between Sri Lanka and the South Indian States, particularly because these are not only nearer to Sri Lanka but are growth centres in India. He would highlight the fact that, collectively, the four South Indian States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and ...