Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received by Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Defence Maj Gen Aruna Jayasekara (Retd.) on his arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport, in Colombo on Tuesday
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh landed in Colombo on Tuesday to begin his three-day tour, with the two countries likely to discuss modalities for implementing the India-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation in April 2025.“Looking forward to a productive engagement with the leadership of Sri Lanka during the visit,” Singh said ahead of his visit, which is a first by any Indian Defence Minister in the last 38 years.“Besides our longstanding partnership as well as deep historical and civilisational ties, Sri Lanka is one of our most important partners under the Neighbourhood First and MAHASAGAR initiatives,” he added, setting the tone of the bilateral engagements witnessing a new pitch in the last 2-3 years.Growing relationshipIndian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, who received the Minister at a Colombo airport, said the visit of the Defence Minister should be seen in the context that we will be taking forward some of the ongoing initiatives in the growing relationship, with India emerging once again the largest trade partner of Sri Lanka.“We’ll exchange notes on how far we have come so far on various defense cooperation issues. I must also request that people see it in the larger context. He’s a very senior leader from India, a person who has been at the helm for many years, and so we are looking at this as part of the larger political-level exchanges between India and Sri Lanka...” Jha told a news agency.He also spoke of number of MoUs signed between the two countries when PM Modi was in Colombo. The MoU on Defence Cooperation inked during Modi’s visit was designed as a five year framework to reflect both the neighbour’s security interests, especially in Indian Ocean Region. It was meant to work as overarching mechanism for streamlining existing defence engagements and open up opportunities for defense equipment co-development and platform sourcing.Ahead of his visit, the Ministry of Defence had said that the bilateral relationship received further impetus when India assisted Sri Lanka during the economic crisis and provided assistance, as one of the first responders, in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka in 2025. It underscored India’s continued commitment and emphasis on the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).Sri Lankan Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Damian Fernando travelled to India earlier in August to interact with Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani on joint military preparedness.Singh will also be interacting with the Indian diaspora.Published on September 8, 2026
