Navy rejects reports of ‘War Game’ with Pakistan

The Sri Lanka Navy says the reports circulating on media that a ‘War Game’ is scheduled to be conducted between the Sri Lanka and Pakistan Navies are false.

The Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Taimur which arrived in Sri Lanka on a formal visit, is scheduled to conduct a Passage Exercise with SLNS Sindurala in seas off Colombo as the ship departs the island today, upon completion of her visit, the Navy clarified.

In a media release, Sri Lanka Navy said that with the concurrence of foreign navies, it conducts Passage Exercises as a routine engagement when their visiting naval ships departing the island after making official port calls.

“The prime motive of these efforts is to enhance interoperability, partnerships and goodwill as well as exchange best practices with foreign navies,” the Navy said.

As part of this Passage Exercise, PNS Taimur and SLNS Sindurala are expected to conduct manoeuvring exercises and Search and Rescue exercise.

Sri Lanka Navy noted that it has conducted similar Passage Exercises with the navies of countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Germany, UK, Russia and Australia on a number of previous occasions.

“Conducting similar naval exercises with regional and extra-regional navies will enable each partner to overcome common maritime challenges in the future, through enhanced cooperation. In addition, such engagements will also be vital for its own maritime operations of Sri Lanka Navy,” the statement added.