Indian Army Chief in Sri Lanka to boost defence cooperation

LANKA-SINGH

T V Sriram
Colombo, Sept 5 (PTI) Indian Army Chief Gen V K Singh
arrived here on Sunday on a five-day visit which is expected
to provide an impetus to defence cooperation between India and
Sri Lanka and lay the ground for a bilateral defence dialogue.
Singh, who is accompanied by his wife, was received by
his Sri Lankan counterpart Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya at the
airport on Sunday.
Singh, during his stay here is scheduled to meet
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister D M Jayaratne,
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and External Affairs
Minister G L Peires.
His visit is considered preparatory to the Indo-Lanka
defence dialogue that is scheduled to begin next year.
The Indian Army chief will be given a ceremonial guard
of honour on Monday before he begins discussions with
Jayasuriya and other top military officials of Sri Lanka.
General Singh served in the Indian Peace Keeping Force
(IPKF) during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka in 1987.
On Monday, he will pay floral tributes at the memorial
for the IPKF soldiers and officers, who were killed during the
war with the LTTE.
Singh will be the first Indian Army Chief to visit the
memorial, since the time it was erected.
The Indian army chief, who was awarded the 'Yudh Sena
Medal' for his distinguished service during 'Operation Pawan'
against the LTTE in Sri Lanka, is also expected to visit the
war-ravaged Vavuniya in the North on Tuesday.
Media reports said that also on the anvil are visits
by Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik and Defence
Secretary Pradeep Kumar to Sri Lanka.
Naval chief Admiral Nirmal Verma had visited Sri Lanka
in June.
Besides an annual defence dialogue, India and Sri
Lanka are looking to step up maritime-security cooperation and
during the upcoming talks would consider increasing the level
and frequency of defence exchanges, reports said. PTI TVS
AHM


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