Ignoring resistance from the political leadership in Tamil Nadu, a contingent of elite special forces of the Indian Army landed in Colombo on Monday to share their expertise in handling counter-insurgency operations.
According to a Defence Ministry official, a contingent of 42 special forces troops landed in Lanka to launch the military training exercise ‘Mitra Shakti’ to be held at Uva-Kudaoyo Commando Regiment training school. In the three-week session, the Army will share military warfare expertise with its Lankan counterparts.
“The special forces troops will participate in a training programme on November 3-23 and carry out counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism training under the UN mandate,” said an official.
Sources claim that a similar military training exercise was deferred three times on earlier occasions, in the last three months, partly due to pressure from regional political parties and partly due to mutually consented availability of dates.
Mitra Shakti, an initiative designed largely by the Army, is the successful outcome of the ‘Annual Defence Dialogue’ that was co-chaired in Colombo earlier in October.
As many as 168 personnel from the Lankan Army special forces and Commando regiment and 32 from Lankan Navy and Air Force will take part.
Though the schedule for this joint exercise was fixed earlier, it coincides with the docking of two conventional submarines of the Chinese Navy in Colombo port three days ago, much to the consternation of the Indian establishment.
The modalities for the three-week long exercise were covered in a Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier.
Meanwhile, in view of the increasing influence of China and Pakistan in Sri Lanka, New Delhi is beefing up its military presence at its High Commission in Colombo.
For the first time, an Army officer has been recently appointed in the Indian High Commission in Lanka.
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