New Delhi: India and Sri Lanka have reaffirmed their commitment to work together for regional security as the defence minister, Rajnath Singh, met the Sri Lankan president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in Colombo on Wednesday. The talks came during Singh’s September 8–10 visit, which the Ministry of Defence has described as his maiden visit to the island nation as defence minister.
Singh conveyed greetings from the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and congratulated Dissanayake on the completion of two years of his government. According to the Ministry of Defence, the two leaders reaffirmed that India and Sri Lanka, as “civilizational twins, close neighbours and maritime partners”, would continue working for the development and welfare of their people and jointly contribute to the safety, security, peace and prosperity of the region.
The meeting builds on the memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation concluded during Modi’s state visit to Sri Lanka on April 5, 2025. The agreement was among seven documents exchanged during the visit and will remain in force for five years.
The full text has not been officially released by either government. However, the December 2024 India-Sri Lanka joint statement had already identified key areas for cooperation, including training and capacity building, defence exchanges, joint exercises, intelligence and information sharing, maritime surveillance, hydrography and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
India is also a major training partner for the Sri Lankan armed forces. Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, Sampath Thuyacontha, said after the 2025 MoU was concluded that India trained around 750 Sri Lankan military personnel annually.
Maritime security
Maritime cooperation is important because India and Sri Lanka are immediate neighbours in the Indian Ocean and face common challenges including narcotics trafficking and other transnational crimes. Cooperation also extends to maritime domain awareness, search and rescue, hydrography, naval exchanges and disaster response.
The two countries conduct regular military exercises, including the naval exercise SLINEX and Army led Mitra Shakti. India has also supported Sri Lanka’s maritime surveillance capabilities through a Dornier aircraft and helped establish a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.
The engagement also fits into India’s neighbourhood first policy and the Mahasagar vision. The Ministry of Defence has linked the relationship to India’s support during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and its first responder assistance after Cyclone Ditwah in 2025.
Three arrangements await official confirmation
Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs minister, Vijitha Herath, said before Wednesday’s meeting that three defence related arrangements were scheduled to be exchanged during Singh’s visit. They cover cooperation between the two countries’ National Cadet Corps organizations, institutional links between their National Defence Colleges and Indian maintenance support for six remaining 40mm L70 air defence guns operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force.
As of Wednesday afternoon, however, neither India’s Ministry of Defence nor an official Sri Lankan government readout had formally announced their exchange. No official statement had announced the sale or transfer of a new Indian air-defence system.