Indian Army chief to visit Sri Lanka

India has offered technical and training assistance to Sri Lanka to modernise its military to tackle emerging security threats, including cyber attacks.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi urged the Indian Government to get in touch with the Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, now in Sri Lanka, to facilitate talks with the Sri Lankan Government so as to end problems faced by Indian fishermen.

An official press release said the discussions between Gen Singh and the Sri Lankan officials would cover a wide range of issues as well as ways of enhancing military cooperation between the two countries.

Gen. Singh, who was part of the IPKF as a company commander during the "Operation Pawan", which was launched to recapture Jaffna, is likely to go to the capital of the Northern Province on Tuesday and visit another IPKF memorial in Palaly.

The SLA chief wanted the Indian Army to explore possibilities of new areas of training.

According to Sri Lanka Army, both the chiefs shared views on the current security situation in the region and stressed the need to exchange vital information.

They recalled the "historic relations that have existed between two nations for generations and memories during the 1987 deployment of the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka". The visiting Chief assured him of his support to continue training programmes.

The visit assumed special significance in light of increasing defence cooperation between the two countries, it said adding that in recent years, the India-Sri Lanka relationship has been marked by high-level bilateral exchanges in various fields.