Lanka, India ink ferry service pact

Colombo, Jan 7 (PTI) India and Sri Lanka have inked a
pact to launch a much-awaited ferry service between Colombo
and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and also re-introduce the
Thalaimannar-Rameswaram route, officials here said on Friday.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by
the two sides, the Colombo-Tuticorin service will commence
first, the Sri Lankan officials said, without giving the
dates.
Sea passenger transportation between India and Sri Lanka
is being established consequent to the Joint Declaration of
June 9, 2010 following the talks between Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in
New Delhi.
The ferry service between the two countries would be
resumed for the first time since 1982. It was suspended in the
wake of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conflict
in the island nation.
Passenger transportation by sea is being established for
the benefit of a large number of businessmen, holiday makers,
pilgrims and students who travel regularly to and from Sri
Lanka and India.
According to the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority
(SLTDA), the largest number of visitors to this country come
from India. The number is increasing with the restoration of
peace in Sri Lanka.
The SLTDA figures showed that 111,129 Indians had come to
Sri Lanka in 2010 prior to December, with a monthly average of
nearly 10,000. PTI