The Defence Secretary of India, Mr. Pradeep Kumar, is paying a three day visit to Sri Lanka from 27 to 29 December 2010 at the invitation of Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka. Mr. Kumar is accompanied by a delegation of senior officers from the Indian ministries of Defence and External Affairs, as well as from the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

On arrival in Colombo on 27 December, Mr. Kumar paid a courtesy call on Hon'ble Prof. G.L.Peiris, Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka. He subsequently held detailed discussions with his counterpart, which were also attended by the Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Air Force, the Navy Commander and the Army Commander and other senior officers of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence.

On 28th December, Mr. Kumar was received by His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a courtesy call at Temple Trees. Also present at the meeting were the High Commissioner of India Ashok K. Kantha, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Treasury Secretary P.B.Jayasundera, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Foreign Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe.

During discussions at the Ministry of Defence on 27th December, the two sides reviewed extensively the state of their defence cooperation and agreed to strengthen their existing links, especially in the field of training and service to service exchanges. They also decided to hold a formal Annual Defence Dialogue beginning in 2011, for which Mr. Kumar invited Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to visit India. Given the commonality of concerns of both India and Sri Lanka, including with respect to the safety and security of their sea lanes of communication, both sides agreed that these issues would inform their bilateral exchanges. It was also agreed to commence staff-level talks between the navies and armies of the two countries and conduct a joint naval exercise between the navies of the two countries in 2011. Continuing the tradition of high-level exchanges, the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force would pay a visit Sri Lanka in January 2011. The two sides also reviewed major ongoing projects, including reactivation of Palaly airport as a regional civil aviation hub and of Kankesanthurai harbour for regional and domestic trade and commerce.

During his visit, Mr. Kumar also paid homage to the memory of the valiant members of the Indian Peace Keeping Force by laying a wreath at the IPKF memorial. He also visited the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura on 28th December. Mr. Kumar is scheduled to pay a visit to the Sri Lanka Air Force Base in Katunayake before his departure for India on 29th December 2010.

Colombo
28th December 2010