In response to China’s growing presence in the Southern Indian Ocean Region, India wants to grow its relationship with Sri Lanka in the defense industry.
Last week, the first India-Sri Lanka defense conference and exhibition was held in Colombo. The goal was to find new ways to work together while strengthening the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.
Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, Sri Lanka’s State Minister for Defense, was at the event where India showed off its defense weapons.
An official said that the seminar showed the strengths and weaknesses of the two countries in making defense weapons. The source said that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces have been using Indian military equipment like the Indra Radar, Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels, L 70 Guns, Dornier Aircraft, and Army training simulators with great success.
The Indian Armed Forces, on the other hand, use Fast Interceptor Craft and fix up Colombo’s Floating Dock. More recently, the Government of India promised to give Sri Lanka Armed Forces a Floating Dock, a Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, and Dornier planes, all of which would improve their abilities. The official mentioned above said that India is ready to teach Sri Lanka the best ways to use defense hardware.
One important part of India’s relationship with Sri Lanka is that it is one of India’s most important growth partners. The Indian government has given the Sri Lankan government a $150 million Defense Line of Credit. This has been used to give $100 million in credit.
Maldives and India signed ten new deals last week to strengthen their relationship in the Indian Ocean Region.
During an event at the Maldivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid signed the memorandums of understanding.
With help from a grant from India, the MoUs will try to get high-impact projects going in 11 atolls in the Maldives. These projects will be in different areas, such as the arts, sports, education, and health.
Muraleedharan explained more about the agreements on Twitter, saying, “Our development relationship with the Maldives is getting stronger. I’m happy to be there with H.E. Abdulla Shahid to see 10 MoUs being signed. With India’s help, the MoUs will make it easier to carry out development projects in the arts, sports, education, and health.
