On Sunday, Santosh Jha, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, attended the inauguration of the Ramayana Trail Project. Calling India and Sri Lanka “civilisational twins” at the occasion, Jha emphasised that the project will further strengthen the friendship between the two nations.
Ramayana Trail
“Our effort to establish the land bridge, on which we have begun our joint work, promises to further provide a fillip to our ongoing efforts to promote tourism between our two countries,” the High Commissioner said at the event. The occasion was attended by National Security Advisor to Sri Lankan President Sagala Ratnayaka and former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, among others.
May the #RamayanaTrail flourish as 🇮🇳 🇱🇰 friendship flourishes today!
— India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) April 21, 2024
High Commissioner @santjha joined the inauguration event of #RamayanaTrail Project in 🇱🇰 endorsed by Swami Govind Dev Giri Maharaj, along with NSA @SagalaRatnayaka, cricket icon @Sanath07 & other dignitaries. pic.twitter.com/G6XNgjc0R7
Jha said that the project will be a game changer and bring many benefits to communities, such as the alignment of this connectivity. He emphasised that it would make “Ramayana and Buddhist tourism easier and more alluring for people on both sides.” The “Ramayana trail also confirms the deep people-to-people connect and shared civilisational antiquity of India and Sri Lanka,” he added.
The envoy expressed happiness at the fact that the idea of the trail has caught the imagination of the people on both sides of the Palk Strait. Additionally, he hoped that the Ramayana Trail would flourish in the same way as the India-Sri Lanka ties do.
Ram Janmabhoomi Trust Treasurer in Colombo
Swami Govind Dev Giri Maharaj, the treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has endorsed the Ramayana Trail. Jha hosted the treasurer and his team at the India House in Colombo on Sunday. The two sides discussed ways in which India can support the trail’s development in the island nation.
The leaders of both countries, PM Narendra Modi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe, pledged to promote the Buddhist circuit and the Ramayana trail in the Vision Document issued during their meeting in July 2023. The Ramayana Trail is a tourism project that will highlight Sri Lanka’s connections to the Hindu Epic, the Ramayana. Indian tourists visiting these places can make payments using the Indian rupee.
High Commissioner @santjha hosted Swami Govind Dev Giri Maharaj, Treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust & his accompanying team at India House. Discussed ways in which 🇮🇳 can support development of #RamayanaTrail in 🇱🇰, promoting P2P connect and economic growth. pic.twitter.com/gCJBRda4cH
— India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) April 21, 2024
India-Sri Lanka Cooperation
Jha said that India-Sri Lanka ties are special and unique, and the only option they have is to “cooperate.” He said that the two countries must stand hand-in-hand with each other in good and challenging times. “We cannot rest with just coming to assist one another episodically but must remain engaged at all times in all spheres,” Jha added, while underlining that cooperation between the two sides must not be limited or transactional.
“Our commitment must be total and to all aspects of our shared existence and our location in close geographical proximity,” he emphasised. He said that “no other relationship is more vital, critical, and natural” than the one that India and Sri Lanka have with each other.
He noted that India contributes more than 1/5th of the tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka and is the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka. Highlighting the advantages of the project, Jha mentioned that Indian tourists prefer visiting Buddhist and Hindu places of worship along with other tourist attractions, making the benefits of tourism from India more dispersed and distributed.