Indian army chief to pay five-day visit to Sri Lanka

Seeking to give a fillip to bilateral military ties, army chief General VK Singh is set to undertake a five-day visit to Sri Lanka from Sunday to discuss defence cooperation.

During his visit, Singh is scheduled to meet defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, his Sri Lankan counterpart Jagath Jayasuriya and other senior defence officials.

The Indian army chief, who was awarded the 'Yudh Sena Medal' for his distinguished service during 'Operation Pawan' against the LTTE in Sri Lanka, would also visit the war-ravaged Vavuniya in the island nation's north.

His visit to Sri Lanka comes close on the heels of a four-day trip here by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.

According to sources, as many as five high-level Indian delegations from various fields are slated to visit Sri Lanka this month.

Foreign minister SM Krishna is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka in October end to inaugurate consulates in Hambantota and Jaffna. He will also be attending the India-Lanka joint commission meeting.

Also on the anvil are visits by Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, media reports said.

Naval chief Admiral Nirmal Verma had visited Sri Lanka in June.

Besides an annual defence dialogue, India and Sri Lanka would be looking to step up maritime-security cooperation and would consider increasing the level and frequency of defence exchanges, the reports said.