Pakistan

Colombo rendezvous: Pakistan, Sri Lanka army chiefs discuss defence ties

Gen Raheel, who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka, called on Lt-Gen De Silva at the army headquarters

Our Correspondent June 07, 2015

Sri Lankan Army chief Lt-Gen De Silva greets COAS Gen Raheel Shareef. PHOTO: NNI

RAWALPINDI:

Pakistan and Sri Lanka pledged to increase their interaction in the spheres of defence and security at a meeting between the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif and Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General AWJC De Silva.

Gen Raheel, who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka, called on Lt-Gen De Silva at the army headquarters, an Inter Services Public Relations statement said on Saturday.

A smartly turned out contingent of Sri Lankan Army presented a guard of honour to General Raheel. Later, he was given detailed briefing about operational and training aspects of the Sri Lankan army, the ISPR statement said.

During the meeting with the Sri Lankan army chief, matters of professional interest, ways and means were discussed for further enhancing bilateral defence ties with particular reference to mutually benefitting from each other's experience in fighting terrorism.

Lt-Gen De Silva praised Pakistan Army for its professionalism, and successes in Operation Zarb-e-Azb for bringing peace and stability in the region. He also thanked Gen Raheel Sharif for timely and much-needed support during Koslandawatta – Meeriyabedda devastating mudslide in Budhala last year. COAS also called on Sri Lankan Navy Commander Vice Admiral SAMJ Perera at the Naval Headquarters, the statement concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.

COMMENTS (6)

karachitte | 9 years ago | Reply History may repeat itsekf! Gen. Perez Musharaf was also on official trip to Sri Lanka and the following events has changed the course forever. Similarly, our Raheel Sharif is on Sri Lanka on the official trip. May be we can see another episode of PK-805 :)

Raj - USA | 9 years ago | Reply I think that this coming September, Raheel Sharif will represent Pakistan at the UN General Assembly. As for Nawaz Sharif, he feels relieved when Raheel Sharif is on a foreign visit as he know that he is relatively safe on those days. Nawaz Sharif also takes Raheel Sharif along with him on foreign tours whenever he feels that there is a chance he could be overthrown. As the 6th century Chinese General and military strategist Sun Tzu said: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

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Talking Point | 9 years ago | Reply And this is not even news in SL . India has neatly managed to bring back SL from the abyss of the Chinks influence and with Maithri as SL President , they are planning to bring back death penalty to Paki drug mules .

tmm | 9 years ago | Reply 4 days is probably too long tour for a busy army chief for a country small as Sri Lanka.

DemocracyFirst | 9 years ago | Reply It is great, we love and respect our COAS and Army. However, it would have been great if Defense Minister would have also been present during this trip. It is important that Democratic Govt run the business of governance. And Defense minister must lead delegations.

Rocky | 9 years ago | Reply Long live Pak-SL relations. Both of these countries need to enhance their partnership with each other to safeguard their independent interests in the South Asian region.

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