COLOMBO, May 30: With both the Tamil Tigers and the troops preparing for full-scale fighting in the north of the country, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has sought assistance from India to tackle the escalating LTTE threat, sources say.
Military equipment and more effective coordinated naval patrolling along the border in Palk Bay were two of the main requests made by the secretary during meetings with Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and army chief Gen J.J. Singh over the past three days in New Delhi, officials said. Sources said New Delhi had ‘promised to do all it can’ for Sri Lanka.
The sources said India had supplied Sri Lanka two radars to supplement the two low-flying aircraft detection radars provided earlier. The radars were provided after the LTTE’s surprise air strike in March near Sri Lanka’s only international airport in Katunayake.
Analysts said New Delhi feared that the guerrillas could carry out air strikes on nuclear installations in India.
Meanwhile, defence sources said India had stepped up patrolling in the Palk Strait after the interception of an LTTE explosive-laden boat near the Tamil Nadu coast in mid-February and increased reports of arms smuggling attempted by the rebels. “There area active co-ordination patrols with Sri Lankan navy to prevent the LTTE from smuggling arms and ammunition. We are concerned about any threat to India by the guerrillas,” Indian diplomatic sources said.
