Lanka Dispatch: Issue 02, Vol 01
Mapping Sri Lanka's Place in the World
Lanka Dispatch was born out of a need to understand the political economic landscape we have to navigate to shape our economic future.
Our second issue delves deep. We explore how far Sri Lanka is willing to go on connectivity with India. Does the future hold a ‘channel tunnel’ between the countries or is a more modest, and perhaps more pressing, electricity interconnection the way forward?
Meanwhile, the old adage ‘location location location’ may not continue to serve Sri Lanka as its most successful port faces growing competition. Colombo handled a record 8.29 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container traffic in 2025. In the first five months of 2026, container throughput grew by a further 13.5% compared to the same time in 2025. But India is building.
While the Dispatch encourages Sri Lanka to look beyond its shores, we also bring in some caution through our sobering look at scam centres on the island.
Taken together, these stories point to a country that is open by necessity but too often unprepared by habit. Sri Lanka can welcome greater connectivity with India and the world’s visitors, but it needs to commit to openness and build institutions to match. We must also be proactive to keep Colombo’s edge from getting washed away. Our economic future demands that we do not simply wait for favourable winds but set our own course and move with purpose.
Comments