India to bolster military assistance to Sri Lanka

Following a visit by a high-level delegation of Indian officials to Colombo, India is likely to further bolster military supplies to Sri Lanka and step up security cooperation with the island’s government.

Although, following the visit, an Indian official parroted India’s stance that there cannot be a "military solution" to the bloody ethnic strife in Sri Lanka, according to reports, the Indian delegation had promised "all help" in the military supplies, intelligence and training arenas.

According to reports, India is alarmed with the way Colombo continues to turn to China, and Pakistan to obtain weapons following India’s policy to supply mainly "non-lethal" military equipment to the island nation, due to political sensitivities in the southern state of Tamil Nadu – home to 60 million Tamils.

India is concerned that both China and Pakistan are exploiting its policy and have moved in to fill the vacuum in recent times to quench Sri Lanka’s thirst for weapons with "offensive capabilities".

Analysts say, India feels it cannot ignore the deep inroads being made into its own strategic backyard by China, which is providing Sri Lanka with a wide array of "cheap" arms and ammunition to boost its ongoing war with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In recent months Sri Lanka has purchased Jian-7 fighters, JY-11 3D air surveillance radars, armoured personnel carriers, assault rifles, machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and missiles from China.

"The story of Myanmar is being repeated in Sri Lanka. China is already all over the island nation, with a flurry of arms deals, oil explorations and construction projects like the Hambantota port," said a senior official.

Few months ago, Narayanan agitated Sri Lankan leaders when he publicly told Sri Lanka to desist from seeking arms from China or Pakistan, as India, "the big power" in the region, would meet its legitimate defence requirements.

Since then, apart from supply of weapons, India has introduced "coordinated" naval patrolling with Sri Lanka to curb LTTE activity on the high seas, stepping up its security cooperation with island government.

Security Cooperation

In addition to agreeing to ‘all help’ on Sri Lanka’s war against the LTTE, the visiting delegation has also formed a high-level committee to remain in regular touch on the security situation in the island nation, an Indian foreign ministry official said.

National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh representing India and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Defence Secretary Gothabhaya Rajapaksa and Senior Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa representing Sri Lanka are in the committee.

The strengthening of military cooperation was further evident with the announcement that a large contingent of Indian troops will be present in Colombo to ensure an incident-free SAARC summit in August.

According to reports, three war ships with a combined force of up to 3,000 security personnel will arrive in Colombo a week before the summit. These elite personnel are to take under their control the venue of the summit and the hotel the Indian delegation would be staying in.

The skies in Colombo are also to be brought under the control of a special Indian air force team manning specially setup radars in order to prevent any possible LTTE air attack.

The Indian navy is to patrol and carry out surveillance in Sri Lankan territorial waters during the summit to ensure there are no terrorist attacks from the sea.

The Indian Prime Minister and his officials along with his security personnel are to be transported in bulletproof vehicles and trucks that will be brought down to Colombo from India. Another special Indian helicopter and attack aircraft are also to be brought down for the Indian Prime Minister.

"Given the security situation in Colombo, it is important for India to address all possibilities because the Prime Minister will be attending," a top diplomatic source said.

The airport has been attacked several times by the LTTE including using air crafts from its air wing. The LTTE also operate a fleet of speed boats and have staged attacks against Sri Lankan ports.

There was no formal word from the Sri Lankan authorities about the Indian security cover for the summit, which will gather leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.