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Pakistan Air Force Chief meets Sri Lanka PM |
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Pakistan’s Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other top officials during a six-day official visit, Defence Ministry officials in Colombo said. He was officially welcomed on April 8 at the start of the trip with the Sri Lankan Air Force giving him a ceremonial guard of honour in Colombo. Mir, accompanied by two senior Pakistan Air Force officials, toured several air force bases in the island, including a key post in the northeastern China Bay, near the strategic port town of Trincomalee. He also visited the Katunayake air force base, which was the target of a daring suicide raid by Tamil Tiger rebels last July. The military lost several fighter jets in the attack. Defence officials said the Pakistani delegation called on Wickremesinghe, Defence Minister Tilak Marapana and other military top brass. Sri Lanka made massive purchases of arms and military hardware from Pakistan, among other countries, in 2000 to counter fierce attacks by Tamil Tiger separatists in the northern Jaffna peninsula. Pakistan was one of the first countries to respond to the government’s request for urgent supplies. The government entered into a bilateral truce with the rebels in February and said it would not be making any big military purchases in the near future.
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