Indian Army provides military stores worth USD 5.5Mn to Sri Lanka Army

Based on the request of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, has approved military stores worth USD 5.5 million to the Sri Lanka Army on a gratis basis from the Indian Army’s operational stocks. The Sri Lanka Army faced a shortage of these military stores, thereby affecting its operational preparedness. The Government of India agreed to meet this urgent requirement within a month, and it also agreed to transship these stores onboard the Indian Naval Ship Sharda, which was specially detailed to transport these stores to Colombo on a gratis basis. The handing-over ceremony was attended by Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India, to Sri Lanka, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd), Secretary of Defence, Government of Sri Lanka and Lt Gen Lasantha Rodrigo, Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.  

In the past two years, the Indian Ministry of Defence has approved projects worth LKR 5 billion for Sri Lanka to upgrade infrastructure as well as supply military and training aids for the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Besides this, during Cyclone Ditwah, the Indian Army deployed an 80-member field hospital, which treated close to 7,000 people over a period of two weeks in Sri Lanka. Also, a 48-member Engineer task force from the Indian Army was deployed for more than six months in Sri Lanka, during which they constructed seven bridges, carried out reconstruction of all destroyed bridges and provided engineering advice to the Road Development Authority, Sri Lanka.   

Further, training forms one of the strongest pillars of defence cooperation between the two countries. Every year, close to 1,200 Sri Lankan Armed Forces personnel are trained at Indian Armed Forces institutes. This, besides multiple instructor exchanges, tailor-made courses and mobile training teams, which get deployed every year.   

The recent engagements between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army have cemented the deep-rooted bonds of friendship and seamless interoperability. Provision of these military stores is symbolic of close defence cooperation and togetherness shared amongst the two countries in line with India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and the PM’s vision of ‘Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth for all in the Region (MAHASAGAR)’.