India halts Pakistan bid for SL naval drills
Pakistan’s effort to conduct a joint naval exercise this year with Sri Lanka in the waters off Trincomalee, a port city where an energy hub is being developed with Indian involvement was shut down after New Delhi conveyed its concerns to Colombo, people familiar with the matter said.
The joint exercise was planned in the weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka this month when New Delhi and Colombo signed a defence cooperation agreement the first of its kind and another tripartite agreement involving the United Arab Emirates for the energy hub at Trincomalee, including a multi-product pipeline.
The move by Pakistan, especially the proposal that the exercise be conducted in the waters around Trincomalee was seen as a deliberate attempt to needle India the people said on condition of anonymity It came after Sri lanka last year imposed a one year moratorium on visits by foreign research vessels a measure put in place by Colombo largely because of the activities of surveillance vessels from china pakistan’s long-standing ally.
Once the Indian side learnt of the planned joint naval exercise, it was taken up with sri lankan authorities by the Indian high commission in Colombo which strongly conveyed New Delhi’s concerns about such activities in a region where the Indian side has important stakes the people said.
The joint exercise was quietly scrapped by Sri Lankan authorities despite protests from the Pakistan side the people said. There was no word on the development from Indian officials. The officials cited above did not elaborate on the scale of the planned exercise, nor the exact date dates.
In February and early March a pakistan navy frigate PNS Aslat visited Colombo port In the March visit it conducted a passex or passing exercise with a Sri lanka navy warship in the waters off the capital before departing from Sri lankan waters. This passex focused on communication and tactical maneuvering according to a readout from the Sri lankan navy.