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PK Balachanddran, Colombo Because the Sri Lankan government had kept it in the dark about the visit of the top drawer Pakistani General, Muhammad Aziz Khan, India had cancelled the visit of the Indian Navy chief, Adm. Madhvendra Singh, to Sri Lanka, informed sources told The Hindustan Times here on Monday. Gen. Khan is the chairman of the Pakistan Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and is therefore second only to president Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in the Pakistani military hierarchy. The Indians had come to know of Gen. Khan's visit on their own, though the convention was that the Sri Lankans should keep the Indians posted on security matters of this nature. The Pakistani General's visit was thus causing "concern" in Indian circles and Adm. Madhvendra Singh's visit stood cancelled, the sources said. Gen. Khan, who arrived here on Sunday, is to visit the Sri Lanka military's training establishments in Diyatalawa and hold talks with the Sri Lankan president, the prime minister, and the defence minister over the next five days. This is not to suggest that India is averse to Sri Lanka's seeking military assistance and equipment from any country, including Pakistan. All that it wants is to be kept informed. As per the India-Sri Lanka Accord, Sri Lanka will have to be mindful of India's strategic interests in the region. It is pointed out that though India declined to supply equipment to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces when the LTTE was knocking at the gates of Jaffna menacingly in 2000, it did not prevent the Sri Lankans from seeking urgent help from Pakistan and other countries. Later, India itself sold an Offshore Patrol Vessel to the Sri Lankan Navy to enable it to go deep into the sea to look for LTTE gun running vessels. The vessel, "SLN Sayura", recently proved its worth when it destroyed a LTTE arms ship in mid sea. According to a top Sri Lankan defence expert, when President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared that the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were running short of ammunition terribly and that existing stocks were enough only for ten days, it was India which rushed supplies. It was against this background that the Indians felt bad that Colombo should keep the Pakistani General's visit a secret from them, sources said. The Hindustan Times learns that India is, in fact, beginning to show an interest in expanding its military cooperation with Sri Lanka, to include equipment sales apart from military training. India already trains thousands of Sri Lankan military personnel, while Pakistan trains only in hundreds. It is learnt that the tri-services Indian military delegation, which visited Sri Lanka recently, explored the possibility of selling equipment apart from expanding existing training schemes. India, it is pointed out, has a growing, commercially driven, armaments industry. If it has no compunction in selling weapons to other countries on a commercial basis, what is wrong in doing the same in Sri Lanka, those who want stronger India-Sri Lanka military cooperation ask. The current visit of the Pakistani General is seen as having a commercial angle also. Sources say that Pakistan is offering a $10 million credit line to Sri Lanka to purchase its ordnance. Like India, Pakistan has an ordnance industry, and has been a traditional supplier of small arms and ammo to the Sri Lankan security forces. Sri Lanka's Air Force chief had recently gone to Pakistan in connection with the overhauling of two Hercules transport aircraft.
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