Lankan leg of SAARC car rally starts

Anura Maitipe

COLOMBO: The SAARC Car Rally, conducted in conjunction with the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi started its Sri Lanka leg yesterday.

The Rally began at Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh on March 15 with over 100 participants in 30 vehicles.

The Indian leg of the rally was ceremonially flagged off in New Delhi by the leaders of the eight SAARC countries on April 3.

The Sri Lanka leg of the SAARC Rally will cover a distance of 900 km covering Lankan beaches, landscapes and historical cities from April 10 to 12. The participants have already covered Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and India.

With the Maldivian leg to follow from Sri Lanka, the Rally covers over 8200 km, across varying terrain with the motto being 'Connecting People, Strengthening Ties' on the way. The Rally is organised by the SAARC Secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs, India and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with the assistance of all South Asian countries.

The event here is sponsored by Formula Plus Motor Insurance of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

The Rally was flagged off from the Galle Road near the Taj Samudra at 10 a.m. and reached Tissamaharama. From there it will proceed to Kandy via Nawalapitiya and Gampola. It will reach Colombo via Anuradhapura and Kurunegala.

The theme of the SAARC rally is to strengthen friendship, harmony and peace among the SAARC nations. The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh has proposed this rally to be held during the last SAARC summit held in Bangladesh in 2005.