• Three MoUs signed as Rajnath Singh holds ‘warm, productive’ talks with President

Visiting Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a “warm and extremely productive” meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo yesterday (9), as India and Sri Lanka moved to further strengthen their longstanding defence and security partnership.

Singh conveyed greetings from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Dissanayake and congratulated him on the successful completion of two years of his Government.

Describing India and Sri Lanka as “civilisational twins, close neighbours and maritime partners”, Singh said the two countries would continue to work together for the development of both Nations and the welfare of their peoples.

The two sides also reaffirmed their commitment to jointly safeguard regional safety and security while promoting peace and prosperity.

The meeting, held at the Presidential Secretariat during Singh’s three-day official visit, focused on strengthening bilateral defence and security cooperation, with maritime security and regional stability continuing to feature prominently in the strategic relationship between the two countries.

Following the meeting, Sri Lanka and India signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering defence cooperation between the National Cadet Corps of the two countries, institutional cooperation between the National Defence College of Sri Lanka and India’s National Defence College in New Delhi, and maintenance support for air-defence systems operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Under the air-defence agreement, India will provide maintenance assistance for the remaining six 40 millimetre L70 air-defence guns operated by the Air Force.

India supplied 24 such systems to Sri Lanka between 2000 and 2006 and has previously carried out maintenance work on 18 of them.

Singh arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday (8) and is scheduled to conclude his visit today (10). During the visit, he was also expected to meet Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Defence Ministry Secretary Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Sampath Thuyacontha and other senior officials.

According to Indian media reports, the visit was also expected to include a review of the implementation of the India-Sri Lanka defence cooperation agreement signed during Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka last year.

Singh’s visit marks the first visit by an Indian Defence Minister to Sri Lanka in 38 years. The previous such visit was made by Indian Defence Minister K.C. Pant in 1988.

The latest agreements are expected to further deepen defence-to-defence relations, particularly in military training, professional education, equipment maintenance and maritime security, while reinforcing close security ties in the Indian Ocean region.