by Zacki Jabbar

Tamil Nadu is Sri Lanka’s gateway to India, High Commissioner in Colombo, Ashok K Kantha said yesterday.

Indians were closely connected to Sri Lankans through age old cultural and religious ties. Some recent misunderstandings should not be allowed to tarnish a historic friendship, he said while observing that Tamil Nadu was Sri Lanka’s gateway to his country.

The High Commissioner noted that the impasse needs to be overcome soon, otherwise a fear of visiting each others territories could get ingrained in the minds of the people, which would be very unfortunate.

Pilgrims who apply for visas though the Religous Affairs Ministry are given free entry permits to India, Kantha observed.

He said that 260,000 Sri Lankans had visited India last year and the number included leisure travellers, businessman and pilgrims, which gave an indication that the desire for people to people contacts had not diminished.

India has been actively involved in Sri Lanka’s post war reconstruction and rehabilitation programme. The latest was the provision of a full grant of SLR 200 million to establish the Atchchuvely Industrial Estate in Jaffna which was scheduled to be completed in August 2013, the High Commissioner noted.

He said that they have also been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and the well being of displaced persons in the Northern Province through the construction and repair of 50,000 houses under the Indian Housing Project.

“Other assistance includes emergency medical relief, organizing artificial limbs, refitment camps, equipping hospitals, providing fishing and agricultural equipment, tractors, seeds, repairing schools, establishing vocational training centres, restoring northern railway lines and rehabilitating the Palaly airport and KKS harbour,” Kantha said.
COURTESY:THE ISLAND