Indian army chief to pay five-day visit to Sri Lanka

T V Sriram
Colombo, Sep 3 (PTI) Seeking to give a fillip to
bilateral military ties, India's army chief General V K Singh
is set to undertake a five-day visit to Sri Lanka from Sunday
to discuss defence cooperation.
During his visit, Singh is scheduled to meet Defence
Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, his Sri Lankan counterpart
Jagath Jayasuriya and other senior defence officials.
The Indian army chief, who was awarded the 'Yudh Sena
Medal' for his distinguished service during 'Operation Pawan'
against the LTTE in Sri Lanka, would also visit the
war-ravaged Vavuniya in the island nation's north.
His visit to Sri Lanka comes close on the heels of a
four-day trip here by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.
According to sources, as many as five high-level Indian
delegations from various fields are slated to visit Sri Lanka
this month.
Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna is scheduled to
arrive in Sri Lanka in October end to inaugurate consulates in
Hambantota and Jaffna. He will also be attending the
India-Lanka joint commission meeting.
Also on the anvil are visits by Air Force chief Air Chief
Marshal P V Naik and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, media
reports said.
Naval chief Admiral Nirmal Verma had visited Sri Lanka in
June.
Besides an annual defence dialogue, India and Sri Lanka
would be looking to step up maritime-security cooperation and
would consider increasing the level and frequency of defence
exchanges, the reports said. PTI TVS
MYR