IAF to boost SLAF

THE INDIAN Air Force (IAF) will beef up air defence around Colombo for the 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). An IAF team will visit Colombo soon to assess the situation before deciding on the nature of deployment.

This was decided by India in the wake of the high-level Indian official team's confabulations with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse in Colombo during June 20-21.

The Indian delegation, led by National Security Advisor MK Narayanan and comprising Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, was given a thorough briefing on the security situation in Sri Lanka.

With Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Alok Prasad also conveying his concern over the prevailing security situation in the island, New Delhi has decided to have extra IAF deployments in Colombo. IAF helicopters and other assets will be put in place in Colombo ahead of the summit.

Incidentally, the air defence radars currently in operation in Colombo were provided by India.

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and heads of six other member-states---Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan---will be in the Sri Lankan capital for the prestigious summit during August 2-3.

Nearly 800 dignitaries, including foreign ministers, senior officials and journalists, will be in Colombo for the summit, which actually begins with meetings of officials on July 27 and concludes on August 3.