Indo-Lanka defence ties to be enhanced

Defence Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar left the country yesterday, concluding his three-day official visit to Sri Lanka. During his visit, the two countries discussed enhancing defence ties and agreed on several programmes to do so.

During discussions at the Ministry of Defence, the Indian Defence Secretary and his Sri Lankan counterpart reviewed extensively the state of their defence cooperation and agreed to strengthen their existing links, especially in the field of training and service exchanges.

The two sides also reviewed major ongoing projects, including reactivation of Palaly Airport as a regional civil aviation hub and of Kankesanthurai harbour for regional and domestic trade and commerce.

They also decided to hold a formal Annual Defence Dialogue beginning in 2011, for which the Indian Defence Secretary invited Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to visit India.

Given the commonality of concerns of both India and Sri Lanka, including with respect to the safety and security of their sea lanes of communication, both sides agreed that these issues would inform their bilateral exchanges, a statement issued from the Indian High Commission, Colombo said.

It was also agreed to commence staff-level talks between the navies and armies of the two countries and conduct a joint naval exercise between the navies of the two countries in2011.

The Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff, Commander of the Air Force, the Navy Commander, the Army Commander and other senior officers of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence attended this meeting between the defence secretaries.

Kumara, who arrived in the country on 27 December at the invitation of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, accompanied a delegation of senior officers from the Indian Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, as well as from the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

(www.info.gov.lk)