Naval exercise between Pak, Sri Lanka shelved following India's concerns

A plan to hold a military exercise between the navies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the strategic waters of Trincomalee was shelved weeks back after New Delhi conveyed its concerns to Colombo over the proposed drills, multiple sources have said.

Trincomalee is situated on Sri Lanka's northeastern coast and is considered a significant hub in the Indian Ocean region, especially for India's maritime security interests.

The sources said the navies of the two countries planned to carry out the exercise off Trincomalee in line with their regular engagements.

The plan did not go through after India apprised its apprehensions over the planned exercise to the Sri Lankan side, they told PTI.

The navies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka are known to have cordial relations and warships from both countries visit each other's ports regularly, besides carrying out wargames.

There was no official word on the plan either from Sri Lanka or from Pakistan.

Military experts, explaining Trincomalee's strategic importance for India, said it has the potential to dominate the Bay of Bengal and much of the northeast Indian Ocean, and New Delhi was right in expressing concerns over the proposed exercise.

The Pakistani Navy operates in close cooperation with China's PLA Navy and New Delhi has reasons to have concerns over any visit by Pakistani warships to Trincomalee, said one of the experts.

The docking of Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship "Yuan Wang" at the Hambantota port in August 2022 had triggered a diplomatic row between India and Sri Lanka.

Another Chinese warship docked at the Colombo port in August 2023 had also triggered some concerns in New Delhi.

In the last few years, India has been focusing on extending assistance to Sri Lanka in developing Trincomalee's energy infrastructure.

India is especially looking at revitalising oil tank farms in Trincomalee that has one of the finest natural harbours in the world.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Colombo this month, India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) firmed up an ambitious agreement to develop Trincomalee as an "energy hub", with a broader aim to help the island nation achieve energy security and fuel its economic growth.

Significantly, India and Sri Lanka also signed a defence pact to institutionalise military cooperation following talks between Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The agreement on defence cooperation signals a major attempt to boost India-Sri Lanka defence ties, nearly four decades after the Indian Peace Keeping Force's intervention in the island nation strained the relations.

India has been expanding its overall strategic ties with Sri Lanka amid concerns over China's attempts to increase influence over the island nation.

Three years back, India handed over a Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft to Sri Lanka.

The aircraft was given to Sri Lanka from the inventory of the Indian Navy to help the country meet its immediate security requirement.