Defence pact all set to be signed: Lanka PM

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa today said New Delhi and Colombo had finalised the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two...

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa today said New Delhi and Colombo had finalised the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries and indicated that it could be inked as early as next month.

Speaking to The Indian Express soon after Congress president Sonia Gandhi called on him, Rajapaksa said: ‘‘We have finalised the Defence Cooperation Agreement. No dates have yet been set for signing the agreement but it can be signed next month if Defence ministers of the two countries decide to meet.’’ While Rajapaksa did not elaborate on the content of the agreement, it is learnt that Colombo has fowarded a list of hardware it needs from New Delhi: off-shore patrol vessels, Chetak helicopters, air defence guns, rocket launchers, artillery shells, 7.62 mm ammunition, Tata trucks, buses and jeeps. These items have been lined up and will be sent to Sri Lanka as soon as the External Affairs Ministry gives a go-ahead. South Block sources said Colombo also wanted ‘‘wheeled armoured carriers’’ but the Indian Army only uses armoured carriers on tracks.

Speaking on a range of issues, including the future of bilateral relations under the Congress-led UPA government which also has the DMK with a soft corner for the LTTE, Rajapaksa said: ‘‘There are no obstacles to India-Sri Lanka cooperation. Everybody is interested in peace. Would India want a war in its neighbourhood?’’.

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Asked whether Sri Lanka would want India and Pakistan to sort out bilateral issues first so that SAARC nations, when they meet, could concentrate on substantive issues, Rajapaksa declined comment: ‘‘How can I comment? It’s for India and Pakistan to decide.’’

He said that he had briefed the Indian government on the Sri Lankan peace process but the broad focus was on increasing bilateral economic cooperation. Since India and Sri Lanka signed the Free Trade Agreement three years ago, bilateral trade has touched a billion dollar mark with Sri Lankan exports jumping 136 per cent.

Rajapaksa has asked the UPA government to increase the credit line to 150 million dollars from the current 100 million dollars for purchase of capital goods, consumer goods, consultancy and food items from India. In his meeting with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, Rajapaksa sought Indian economic and technical assistance for rural reconstruction and infrastructure development. Singh told him that India would extend ‘‘some economic assistance’’ for rehabilitation of Sri Lanka’s backward north east region. It’s a volatile area where LTTE’s Karuna revolted recently against chief Prabhakaran.

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