India to provide Sri Lanka with counter terrorism assistance

[Cobra Arbok]

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Exclusive: India to provide counter-terrorism, warfare assistance, says Sri Lankan army chief


Exclusive: India to provide counter-terrorism, warfare assistance, says Sri Lankan army chief
Sri Lankan army chief Senanayake said that India, China, United States, Israel, Australia and the United Arab Emirates were looking to provide high-grade military technology, including communication and surveillance equipment, to deal with future threats.
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Geeta Mohan
New Delhi/Colombo
May 11, 2019
UPDATED: May 11, 2019 23:41 IST

We have requested India for intelligence cooperation: Sri Lanka’s army commander Mahesh Senanayake | Photo from REUTERS
HIGHLIGHTS

• Sri Lanka army chief said India to provide assistance to fight menace of Islamic terrorism in country
• He rejected any idea of on-ground military help from any country
• He added that Sri Lanka is working towards a system to ensure such attacks do not succeed in future

The army chief of Sri Lanka said that India would be providing Sri Lanka with counter-terrorism technology and capability to fight the growing menace of Islamic terrorism in the country.

Speaking to India Today TV on Saturday, army chief of Sri Lanka Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake said, "We have requested India for intelligence cooperation, bomb disposal assistance, cyber warfare assistance and assistance of training and equipment."


To a question on if India has agreed to Colombo's demands, the chief said that they have been assured help and assistance since "this is not only good for Sri Lanka but the entire region. We have suffered a lot and we do not want others to suffer".

He rejected any idea of on-ground military help from any country.

Sri Lanka fought the toughest battle during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and after the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), they never sought any external military assistance.

"We do not encourage troop requirement here [Sri Lanka]. There is no reason for other countries to send their armed forces but, we need assistance for our interrogation and technical assistance to enhance our capabilities on conducting future operations. We really welcome friends who are actual friends in need. Our relationship with the Indian Army and military diplomacy with our neighbors, especially India, stand tall," he said.

BLASTS IN SRI LANKA

Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, killing over 250 people and injuring more than 500.

"The Sri Lankan Army was not informed of the critical intelligence that was shared by 'friendly' countries with Colombo," said General Senanayake.

When asked on the massive intelligence failure, he said, "More than the failure, there was a gap between the agencies in terms of cooperation. Even after being informed by our friendly countries of this particular incident, it was not shared with other agencies on time. That created this situation."

He added that the country is working towards an "integrated intelligence system" to ensure such attacks do not succeed in the future.

The Easter Sunday attackers, according to intelligence gathered by the forces, had travelled to many important cities of India, including Kashmir, to connect with Islamic terrorist groups.

Sri Lanka is looking into all the connections in the sub-continent, including links with groups in Pakistan.

"During the investigation very few cadres had travelled to India. Indian government did not help them. They had gone to make connections. They had outside links and visited abroad which their passports have revealed... they travelled to Bengaluru, Kochi, and parts of Kashmir. We can tell their exact locations and people they met, after the investigations," he said.

Business tycoon Yusuf Ibrahim's sons travelled under the garb of business to India.

Senanayake said that investigations had established that the plotters had links to Islamic State (IS), but currently they are trying to establish their location and the depth of contact.

"We had five Sri Lankan fighters in Syria, one died in 2017. They have connections with IS in Syria. Currently, we are not in a position to tell the exact location but investigations are going on," Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake said.

While they are investigation outside links, Sri Lanka is not ruling out help from former LTTE cadre who fled the country after they lost the war.

General Senanayake said, "Although 13,169 people surrendered, definitely some escaped to India and other countries, Germany, France, West Canada, the UK. We are seriously monitoring activities of ex-LTTE cadres within the country and other countries also. Revamping of LTTE is not an immediate concern but our current attention is to the particular incident of April 21."

For now, investigators from eight countries, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol, are helping Sri Lanka with the investigation.

Senanayake said that India, China, United States, Israel, Australia and the United Arab Emirates were looking to provide high-grade military technology, including communication and surveillance equipment, to deal with future threats.

He assured that the situation will return to normal and that the country is safe for tourists to return.

"We don't have to worry about the situation; it is contained. I assure security to tourists who wish to travel. In fact, rainy season will start in July. After that and till Christmas, it will be the best time to travel to Sri Lanka. Normalcy will prevail," he said
@Nilgiri r @Jackdaws @Soumitra @AyanRay @Tshering22 @jaiind @Novice09 @Rollno21 @kris @Sheena1980 @Vikki @KapitaanAli @jetray @pahadi @Śakra @third eye @Tea addict @Sam. @Chhatrapati @Srinivas @Peshwa @Robinhood Pandey @Ajaxpaul @anant_s @jamahir @HydNizam @Godman
@SrNair @koolzberg @Khatri_pune @Axomiya_lora @ajpirzada @SrNair @Smarana Mitra @mastaan @Sekhon Rafiqui @Aryan0395 @HydNizam @God Parshuram @mastaan @Jugger @Syed Hammad Ahmed @surya kiran @Chowkidar placemat @nahtanbob

 

[GumNaam]

y' all aren't sendin' abhi-none-done in an mi17 to train the sri lankans on counter terrorism, are ya?

 

[Cobra Arbok]

y' all aren't sendin' abhi-none-done in an mi17 to train the sri lankans on counter terrorism, are ya?

Why don't you ask the Lankans that? They are the ones requesting our assistance. After all we were the first ones to warn them about the attack.

 

[Placemat]

Bound to happen. They are realising india means good abd is serious in having a real win-win . Nit the otger type of win win where one party wins twice.
BD has seen that good professional and matter of fact relationship in the neighbourhood on equal terms will lead to prosperity.

 

[Cobra Arbok]

Bound to happen. They are realising india means good abd is serious in having a real win-win . Nit the otger type of win win where one party wins twice.
BD has seen that good professional and matter of fact relationship in the neighbourhood on equal terms will lead to prosperity.

Although an absolutely horrendous tragedy, this act of terror reflected positively on India's intelligence services and shows that it is a responsible net provider of security for the region. It is a monumental tragedy that Sri Lanka's leaders were too busy fighting amongst themselves to take advantage of the intel India and other countries provided it.

 

[namefield_empty]

One hopes that the few remaining sane ones in Pakistan understand the gravity of the situation at hand. We need a concerted effort to root out these un-ISLAMIC ISIS terrorists from South Asia.

 

[GumNaam]

Why don't you ask the Lankans that? They are the ones requesting our assistance. After all we were the first ones to warn them about the attack.

don't forget, you went out of your way to offer assistance that initially asked for. its just getting you off their backs, sort of like how I would take a $1 worth a pop corn from a street vendor around the corner who would just not leave me the hell alone!!!

 

[Cobra Arbok]

One hopes that the few remaining sane ones in Pakistan understand the gravity of the situation at hand. We need a concerted effort to root out these un-ISLAMIC ISIS terrorists from South Asia.

Unfortunately, they just do not get it. They got pissed off at me when I said ISIS was most likely behind the attack, and immediately accused me of trying to frame Pakistan even though I never mentioned it. Are they basically saying ISIS=Pakistan? Guilty conscious much? And then they wonder why they have been exposed and isolated in the UN as a state sponsor of terrorism and are facing an FATF blacklisting.

don't forget, you went out of your way to offer assistance that initially asked for. its just getting you off their backs, sort of like how I would take a $1 worth a pop corn from a street vendor around the corner who would just not leave me the hell alone!!!

You can troll all you want, but you cannot change the fact India's intelligence was correct about the attack. And if you really think that, you are welcome to contact the Sri Lankan Gov. and say that, because Sri Lanka is the one requesting India for help with counterterrorism.

 

[GumNaam]

Unfortunately, they just do not get it. They got pissed off at me when I said ISIS was most likely behind the attack, and immediately accused me of trying to frame Pakistan even though I never mentioned it. Are they basically saying ISIS=Pakistan? Guilty conscious much? And then they wonder why they have been exposed and isolated in the UN as a state sponsor of terrorism and are facing an FATF blacklisting.


You can troll all you want, but you cannot change the fact India's intelligence was correct about the attack. And if you really think that, you are welcome to contact the Sri Lankan Gov. and say that, because Sri Lanka is the one requesting India for help with counterterrorism.

oh everyone comes out claiming that they "knew" about the attack after the fact, EVEN BHUTAN AND ZIMBABWE can claim that! the one you isolated was your own asset gongla sharif by actually helping Imran Khan take out the single source of street power he had and that too, on HIS terms...there is NO mention of "state terrorism" or even loc infiltration or anything that india wanted, literally all the pieces were nit-picked OUT and was tuned to suit US, not you! explains why the indian media that normally jumps around like a female bonobo monkey in heat was so cold and quiet on that even. speaking of state terrorism, oh yeah, care to explain how kulbhusan yadav was issued a passport under the name of mubarak patel? I'll look for that answer at the icj, best a luck explaining that one!!!

oh and let's not forget who was supporting the ltte, pretty sure the sri lankans haven't forgotten!

 

[Cobra Arbok]

oh everyone comes out claiming that they "knew" about the attack after the fact, EVEN BHUTAN AND ZIMBABWE can claim that! the one you isolated was your own asset gongla sharif by actually helping Imran Khan take out the single source of street power he had and that too, on HIS terms...there is NO mention of "state terrorism" or even loc infiltration or anything that india wanted, literally all the pieces were nit-picked OUT and was tuned to suit US, not you! explains why the indian media that normally jumps around like a female bonobo monkey in heat was so cold and quiet on that even. speaking of state terrorism, oh yeah, care to explain how kulbhusan yadav was issued a passport under the name of mubarak patel? I'll look for that answer at the icj, best a luck explaining that one!!!

Read any mainstream media source such as NY Times, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, and even Al Jazeera, and they all say India was the first to obtain intelligence about the attack by interrogating ISIS members arrested in South India for plotting a similar attack. And I don't want to change the topic, but the UNSC resolution blacklisting Azhar listed his affiliation with JEM, the organization that claimed the attack, as the reason for his blacklisting. The UNSC also passed a resolution condemning JEM back in Feb 19. So it is pretty clear why he was blacklisted. And do you seriously think Pakistan had anything to do with the language of the res? The UK, France, and India were negotiating with China for a whole month, and the US even sponsored a joint resolution that would take the issue directly to the UNSC, which China did not want. Pakistan was not in the picture at all. The minor change in language that does not affect the resolution in any way was just China playing lip service to Pakistan. After the big boys were finished, China told Pakistan what was happening, and Pakistan went along like the good boy it is. Yet Pakistanis are somehow claiming victory in their country being designated a state sponsor of terrorism

Now would you stop trolling and contribute something of value, if you are even capable of saying something intelligent?

 

[Godman]

Well 60% of foreign training is already done in India

 

[GumNaam]

Read any mainstream media source such as NY Times, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, and even Al Jazeera, and they all say India was the first to obtain intelligence about the attack by interrogating ISIS members arrested in South India for plotting a similar attack. And I don't want to change the topic, but the UNSC resolution blacklisting Azhar listed his affiliation with JEM, the organization that claimed the attack, as the reason for his blacklisting. The UNSC also passed a resolution condemning JEM back in Feb 19. So it is pretty clear why he was blacklisted. And do you seriously think Pakistan had anything to do with the language of the res? The UK, France, and India were negotiating with China for a whole month, and the US even sponsored a joint resolution that would take the issue directly to the UNSC, which China did not want. Pakistan was not in the picture at all. The minor change in language that does not affect the resolution in any way was just China playing lip service to Pakistan. After the big boys were finished, China told Pakistan what was happening, and Pakistan went along like the good boy it is. Yet Pakistanis are somehow claiming victory in their country being designated a state sponsor of terrorism

Now would you stop trolling and contribute something of value, if you are even capable of saying something intelligent?

uhm, no, all the "mainstream" media say that india claims it was the first to obtain intelligence, not the same thing. and go read the bill in the u.n. again...there was no mention of ANY activities by Pakistan as a state or against indian occupied kashmir which was ALSO not mentioned as a part of india; no mention of ISI or the government supporting them, in fact it was made to look as if jem and ma were enemies of Pakistan which, in so many ways, it 100% true as this guy was probably the most powerful source of street power for the sharif brathraan. this was HANDS DOWN a loss for india and royal victory for PM Imran Khan. there was a reason why modi did not celebrate this the way he normally does. Pakistan and China dictated what we wanted in it.

Details of how india couldn't get a single thing it wanted...

 

[Cobra Arbok]

uhm, no, all the "mainstream" media say that india claims it was the first to obtain intelligence, not the same thing. and go read the bill in the u.n. again...there was no mention of ANY activities by Pakistan as a state or against indian occupied kashmir which was ALSO not mentioned as a part of india; no mention of ISI or the government supporting them, in fact it was made to look as if jem and ma were enemies of Pakistan which, in so many ways, it 100% true as this guy was probably the most powerful source of street power for the sharif brathraan. this was HANDS DOWN a loss for india and royal victory for PM Imran Khan. there was a reason why modi did not celebrate this the way he normally does. Pakistan and China dictated what we wanted in it.

Right. So after being in power for almost a year, Imran Khan did not have the ability to implement the "National Action Plan" until Pakistan was internationally exposed as a state sponsor of terrorism to avoid getting blacklisted by the FATF(while complaining the FATF is influenced by India)? And you are mistaken. India is celebrating the blacklisting. All the world's sane people are celebrating the fact that a global terrorist was sanctioned. BTW, the resolution also mentions the hijacking of the Air India flight, which is the reason he was freed in the first place. So India got exactly what it wanted. But sure, do whatever mental gymnastics you need to do to portray this as a victory for Pakistan when the only country not happy about Azhar's blacklisting is Pakistan.

 

[Ultima Thule]

sponsor of terrorism

And you're mother of all terrorism in the subcontinent, Forget Mukhti Bahni in 71, Tamil tiger which was supported by India, Yadev, sarbajeet singh and lots of unnamed spy/terrorists to destabilized Pakistan, stop spreading/sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan via Iran/Afghanistan, you're backing up Baluchistan insurgency, your all big terr event in past like 2002-2003 standoff between india & Pakistan, Parliament attack, Mumbai attack, Uri,Pathankot,Pulwama attack is RAW drama to propagandize against Pakistan @Cobra Arbok
So Jai terrorist HIND @Cobra Arbok

 

[Cobra Arbok]

And you're mother of all terrorism in the subcontinent, Forget Mukhti Bahni in 71, Tamil tiger which was supported by India, Yadev, sarbajeet singh and lots of unnamed spy/terrorists to destabilized Pakistan, stop spreading/sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan via Iran/Afghanistan, you're backing up Baluchistan insurgency, your all big terr event in past like 2002-2003 standoff between india & Pakistan, Parliament attack, Mumbai attack, Uri,Pathankot,Pulwama attack is RAW drama to propagandize against Pakistan @Cobra Arbok
So Jai terrorist HIND @Cobra Arbok

Cool.. How many UN Blacklisted terrorists are operating on Indian soil again? Because last I checked, you guys hold the world record in that regard. Finally something in which you beat India.