Pakistan’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila, NI (M) will be arriving in Sri Lanka tomorrow on a bilateral visit alongwith a three members’ delegation.

The visit of Pakistan’s Naval Chief will be from 12 - 15 Dec 2013 which is being undertaken on the invitation extended by Sri Lankan Naval Commander Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage.  

During his stay in Sri Lanka, Admiral Sandila will hold detailed discussions on bilateral cooperation with his counterpart Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage. He will also hold discussions on matters of professional interests with Secretary Defence Sri Lanka, Hon Gotabaya Rajapaksa, besides paying courtesy calls on Chief of Defence Staff, Commander of Army and Commander of Air Force.  

The visit of Pakistan’s Naval Chief will provide both sides an opportunity to review ongoing cooperation and collaboration, and to discuss ways to further broaden and deepen the relationship between the two Navies.  

This relationship has diversified significantly since the termination of war in Sri Lanka. In the last two years, Pakistan Navy has started sending their young officers and men for training in Asymmetric Warfare, while Sri Lankan Navy had dispatched, for the first time, its Naval Ship to participate in AMAN 13 exercise conducted by Pakistan Navy.  

In earlier high level visits between the two Navies, Admiral (R) D W A S Dissanayake as Commander of Navy visited Pakistan in June 2012 followed by visit of Vice Admiral JSK Colombage in November 2012. Pakistan has been regularly sending a senior officer for participation in Galle Dialogue since its inception in 2010. (Chaturanga Pradeep)