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Sri Lanka Army Chief urges enhanced military ties |
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The Sri Lanka Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sanath Fonseka on March 4 obliquely urged India to supply arms to enable Colombo to effec¬tively counter the Tamil Tigers. But it could be a while before this happens.
“The relations between both countries are good at the political level but need to be increased at the military level. I am here to further strengthen the military ties,” Fonseka told reporters after inspecting a guard of honour at South Block, Defence Ministry Headquarters.
However, to go by India’s stated policy on not supplying arms to conflict regions, Fonseka’s wish list is not likely to be ad¬dressed in the near future.
“Our policy is not to export arms to any country where there is a conflict. That is self-defeating because you cannot export arms to areas where there is peace,” Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh had said last month, even as he added that he was not “advocating any change in policy”.
India has supplied three indigenously produced Indra radars to Sri Lanka but New Delhi’s reluctance to supply lethal weapons has prompted Sri Lanka to look to China and Pakistan for desperately needed arms, a move New Delhi has looked at with askance.
At the same time, the Indian and Sri Lankan navies have been conducting coordinated patrols in the narrow sea dividing the two countries. New Delhi also shares intelligence on LTTE activities with Colombo.
On March 4, he also met his Indian counterpart Gen. Deepak Ka¬poor. The next day he called on Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, the Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, and the Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Home Major.
Fonseka also visited the Infantry School at Mhow in Madhya Pra¬desh and met its commandant, Lt. Gen. K.S. Yadav.
He also saw the Taj Mahal at Agra and visited the Buddhist pil¬grimage site of Bodh Gaya in Bihar.
Fonseka March 3 flew to Jammu and Kashmir for an operational briefing on the situation at the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the state between India and Pakistan.
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