Sri Lanka is the 28th country with which India has signed such a pact to enable air travel to revive to some degree, after flights were stopped in March of last year because of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The 28 countries which have pacts with India include nations from several parts of the world, including Canada, Germany, and France.

Sri Lanka is the sixth nation in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SARRC) region with which India has a bubble pact. The SARRC is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, there is little chance of regular air services being resumed to and from India in the near future, because COVID-19 seems to be spreading, preventing nations from taking bold steps to restart flights. The industry and others anxiously want travel connectivity to be restored as early as possible.

In the past, ferry services for tourists were introduced but suspended repeatedly because of their low usage, perhaps due to the high cost of services. As of now, the only way for tourists to access India from Sri Lanka is by air. The Sri Lanka Minister of Tourism Development indicates that a ferry service will help tourists from both sides to travel at a very low cost.

In 2019, negotiations about ferry services between Colombo and Tuticorin and between Talaimannar and Rameshwaram began. There is also a proposal to operate a cruise/ferry service between Colombo and Kochi in Kerala. The Indian and Sri Lankan governments are working close together to connect the two neighboring countries better. It is hoped this air travel bubble will do just that.

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