Sri Lanka options for Pakistan

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Double post.

 

[Spring Onion]

"Outsiders interest" is very simple to understand.

The control of the seaways in the Indian Ocean from Bab el Mandeb to the Straits of Malacca!

The Indian intervention in Sri Lanka was nothing but to prevent US gaining a listening post and a naval base in Trincomalee.

Trinco is one of the finest deep sea harbours of the world where huge flotillas can take shelter including a huge submarine fleet.

Diego Gracia and Trinco would have made the US the masters of the Indian Ocean!

Great, Thank you sir for the information now im clear.
otherwise i havent dont any study on the topic and it would have been dump on my part to comment on the issue and thats why i dint.

huh these foreigners the West these dump heads can never leave any nation from our part of the world live peacfully.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Great, Thank you sir for the information now im clear.
otherwise i havent dont any study on the topic and it would have been dump on my part to comment on the issue and thats why i dint.

huh these foreigners the West these dump heads can never leave any nation from our part of the world live peacfully.

No, I don't blame the westerners.

They are doing what is good for their countries, even if it appears negative for us.

We should be able to guard our interests.

I have to again allude to General Musharraf. Notwithstanding, his joining the "War on Terror" which to many is actually a "War on Islam", he still is managing to protect Pakistani interests, even if not Islamic interests.

He even wooed the Jews (anathema to you all) in New York. :disappointed:

You win some, you lose some.

Rarely, is it win win!

 

[RAPTOR]

The strategic millitary ties with SriLanka are only bound to grow further.In the past Lanka has always provided Pakistan with refuelling facilities for its planes and ships in the event of war with the common Enemy. Since SriLanka posseses the finest natural harbour in the deep ocean....perhaps a base of operations for Pakistani Submarines?

 

[RAPTOR]

‘Proof LTTE funded trip’

- By AP


Washington, Aug. 25: A member of the US Congress who travelled to Sri Lanka on money provided by the Tamil Tigers said that he has evidence that the money came from the rebel group, which is considered by the United States a terror organisation.
The Chicago Tribune reported on Thursday that the Tigers paid for a seven-day trip by Republican Danny Davis and an aide to the Indian Ocean island nation.
The newspaper also cited unidentified law enforcement sources as saying the group paid about $14,000 for the Chicago Democrat and the aide, Mr Daniel Terrell, to visit Sri Lanka from March 30 to April 5, 2005.
The trip received attention this week after 11 supporters of the group were arrested on charges of participating in a conspiracy to aid Tamil Tigers through money laundering, arms procurement and bribery of United States officials, the newspaper further reported.
Mr Davis said on Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press that as far as he knew, his expenses of $7,915 were paid by the Illinois-based Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, which represents Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority.
"It’s not like it was a secret trip," he said. He also said that the first visit he and Mr Terrell made was with US ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Strategically, Sri Lanka is a key player in the Indian Ocean.

Of all the important players, the interest of the US, Russia and China cannot be denied since it is said that he who controls the Indian Ocean controls the world. Enough commentaries have been written on the issue.

It is also axiomatic that India has a role to play since it is geographically a stone's throw away and the Tamil rebellion in Sri Lanka can create a serious law and problem in South India. Therefore, a peaceful solution to the Tamil question is in India's interest.

However, owing to Sri Lanka's strategic importance too many international players have jumped in to murky the already muddy waters. It is in the interest of such players to keep the murky situation alive as long as feasible so that they can reap a rich harvest at the expense of the Sri Lankan misery and it is not that the Sri Lankans are not aware of the chicanery afoot.

 

[salman77]

Sri Lanka to purchase defence equipment from Pakistan

New Delhi, Dec. 31 (PTI): In order to equip itself to fight the LTTE, Sri Lanka has placed orders worth up to USD 100 million from Pakistan for tanks, their ammunition, different kinds of bombs and explosives, fuses, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and armoured vehicles, reports said.

Premier journal Jane's Defence Weekly and media reports have have confirmed that the arms deal size could go up to USD 200 million in the next 18 months.

Major Colombo newspaper 'Island' earlier reported that the Sri Lankan forces needed two UAVs, cluster and fuel air bombs, laser-precision and guided bomb kits, deep penetration bombs, 80MM rockets with fuel explosive warheads, Bakhtar-Shiken anti-tank guided missile launcher, Tandem warhead missiles, radios, mortars and night vision goggles.
The island nation was looking at Pakistan "to significantly strengthen its military capabilities amid the increasing prospect of renewed civil war", Jane's said.

As much of these purchases are already in pipeline, reports here suggested a major defence scandal with sources alleging that Pakistan was not only acquiring much of these supplies from Ukraine but also "bribing" Sri Lankan officials.

The reports claimed that crucial components like fuses and certain types of bombs were found to be faulty by the Sri Lankan forces and Pakistan had agreed to take them back.

Regarding the alleged kickbacks, these reports said a major chunk of the sleaze money actually went back to Pakistan.

The reports added that commission or kickbacks paid to defence agents representing Pakistan were as high as 20-25 per cent, with 15-20 per cent going to Sri Lankan officials.

Referring to the assassination attempt this August against Bashir Wali Mohammad, the Pakistani envoy in Colombo, the 'India Daily' had quoted Sri Lankan official spokesman as saying that the LTTE had targeted him because of the increased defence cooperation between the two countries.

Noted security affairs expert B Raman, in a recent article, said the LTTE suspected that the Sri Lankan Air Force officers were being trained by their Pakistani counterparts "with the experience of air-mounted operations against the Baloch freedom fighters".

Raman, a former Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat said, this training should account for the success of recent air strikes by Sri Lankan Air Force against the LTTE on ground as well as against the LTTE's Navy.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200612301770.htm

 

[john_holmes]

Pak bribes Lankan officials to sell defective arms

New Delhi, December 23
In a strategic move to operate in India’s backyard, Pakistan has greased the palms of some senior Sri Lankan army officials and bureaucrats and resorted to “honeytrap” tactics to sell arms and ammunition of poor quality to Colombo at exorbitant prices.

However, the lid from the brewing Sri Lankan defence scandal blew off recently when the defence forces’ frustration reached the top brass after it was discovered that most of the military ware purchased from Pakistan was either sub-standard or second-hand.

A “Top Secret” note, that reached the Government of India through diplomatic channels, said the situation became grim when some of the bombs aimed at LTTE targets by the Sri Lankan Air Force turned out to be dummies and fell in the target areas like stones.

A major problem area for the Lankan forces has been Pakistan-supplied electronic fuses, which are crucial components in bombs. Of the 500 electronic fuses supplied, 200 were found to be faulty.

After Colombo took up the matter with Islamabad, the Pakistan Government reluctantly agreed to take back the remaining electronic fuses and sent a specially chartered An-32 transport plane with the replacement.

Lankan forces’ personnel are openly talking in diplomatic circuits that Pakistani supplies were actually killing them more than the LTTE. The Tigers are able to fight more effectively with small arms compared with the dummy heavy ammunition supplied to the Lankan forces by Pakistan.

So far, Sri Lankan defence forces have purchased military ware worth $30 million from Pakistan.

A repeat supply of the above merchandise has been ordered. Purchases in the pipeline include second-hand tanks (22 Al Zarar) worth over $ 80 million, armoured vehicles and jeeps. The Pakistanis are aggressively pushing for the defence supplies at the Sri Lankan defence HQ and Pakistani arms agents are making frequent trips to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is looking to make purchases worth $ 100 million from Pakistan in the coming few months. The deal size may even go up to a cumulative figure of $ 250 million in the next 18 months.

Pakistan currently exports a tiny $ 200 million worth of arms. The possibility of such large orders flowing in from a single country (Sri Lanka) has made the Pakistani military machinery hyperactive.

Pakistan is making a killing in its arms supplies to Sri Lanka. That is because some of the spares that they have supplied to Sri Lanka have been procured from Ukraine and a few other Central Asian countries. Moreover, Pakistani spares' supplies of $ 6.9 million made to Sri Lanka in last few weeks were actually sourced by HIT-Pakistan (Heavy Industries Taxila) from Ukraine at $3 million and re-exported to Colombo.

So far, $ 5 million have been paid to corrupt Lankan officials by Pakistan. The sleaze money has been deposited in a tax haven country, most likely St Kitts.

Commission paid to the defence agent representing Pakistan in Sri Lanka is 20-25 per cent. Of this 15-20 per cent flows as kickbacks to the Sri Lankan officials.

Sri Lanka buys arms from Pakistan because Colombo has scouted around for meeting its spares’ demand, but few are willing to make supplies. It is against this backdrop that the Pakistanis, who themselves are facing spares crunch, have moved in quickly to fill the void.

India cannot make military exports to Sri Lanka for obvious political reasons.

The Pakistanis are, in fact, procuring spares and ammunition from third countries and re-exporting some of these to Sri Lanka at inflated costs.

Pakistan defence companies are paying huge kickbacks to certain willing and corrupt Sri Lankan officials. It is estimated that bribes worth $ 15 million is likely to change hands in the immediate few months for the next batch of Pakistani arms exports to Sri Lanka. The kickback figure will go substantially higher if the deal size goes up to $ 250 million.

Some of the sleaze money actually flows back to Pakistani officials.

The Sri Lankan government is likely to order a probe into the defence scam soon.

 

[Contrarian]

The importance of Sri Lanka as a naval harbour is very likely to fade as the Sethu Samudram project gets completed. It will virtually increase the IN strength, provide another route for trading vessels, will act as an area where the Indian submarines can hide! It is going to be very very benificial to India, and will certainly reduce the need of Sri Lankan ports on the outer edge of the Indian Ocean.

 

[salman77]

Why India does not Object to Pakistani Weapons to Sri Lanka?

​

Why would India agree to its southern neighbor getting military assistance from its lifelong enemy Pakistan? Why not supply Sri Lanka the weapons it is seeking instead of allowing it to get them from Pakistan? The answer lies in India's internal political equations. For over a decade, Indian government is formed by a coalition of parties; no single party is able to get a parliamentary majority to form the government on its own. So the Hindi-belt centered national parties (such as the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)) had to ally with regional Tamil Nadu parties to form a coalition government. If India were to sell weapons like MBRLs and these weapons were to cause large-scale Tamil civilian casualties in Sri Lanka, Tamil public in Tamil Nadu could react negatively and major street demonstrations could take place. Then the regional Tamil Nadu parties would have no alternative but to withdraw support to the coalition government. That is the reason for Indian government hesitation to supply MBRLs to Sri Lanka and rather allow Sri Lanka to get them from Pakistan.

 

[dabong1]

On August 14, a deadly claymore-mine blast in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo killed seven people. The blast was aimed at Pakistan's outgoing high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohammed. Although the high commissioner himself escaped unhurt, four Lankan commandos accompanying him were killed in the blast.
Other then pakistan providing weaponary to sri lankan's another reason for the Tigers targeting the Pakistani high commissioner is his reported "support, moral or otherwise" to Muslims in the island's explosive Eastern Province. Bashir Wali is a former director of the Intelligence Bureau. He is said to have made statements extending support to the Muslims in Eastern Province, which has rattled and angered the LTTE.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have enjoyed cordial relations. Certain segments of society in Sri Lanka, especially among the Sinhalese majority, view Pakistan (and China) as more reliable than "big brother India". Unlike India, which during the 1980s was arming and training the Tamil militants, China and Pakistan never backed the militants at any time since the start of the insurgency.

Others in Colombo also recall that Islamabad and China have always come to Sri Lanka's rescue in times of serious crisis - when India was seen to have dithered. In 2000, when Jaffna was on the verge of falling to the LTTE, China and pakistan "among the first to respond to the Sri Lankan government's appeal for emergency military supplies".

B Raman, a former director of RAW, has pointed out that "about 12-15 members of the Pakistani armed forces, including four or five from the Pakistan air force, are stationed in Colombo to guide the Sri Lankan security forces in their counter-insurgency operations. The Pakistan air force officers have reportedly been guiding the SLAF officers in effectively carrying out air-mounted operations against the LTTE. They have also been reportedly involved in drawing up plans for a decapitation strike from the air, with bunker-buster bombs, to kill [LTTE leader Velupillai] Prabakaran.

Islamabad's new envoy in Colombo is Air Vice Marshal Shehzad Aslam Chaudhry, who recently retired as the deputy chief of air staff (operations) of the Pakistani air force. He is believed to be the architect of the air strikes launched on Balochistan last year and is said to have drawn up the plans of the operation that resulted in the recent killing of Baloch leader Nawab Bugti. Colombo could draw on his expertise in aerial bombing of insurgency-racked areas.

extracts taken from asia times and a few other newspapers and a few changes i made myself.