Goa Shipyard Ltd(GSL) built Sri Lankan Navy AOPV Sayurala sails fm Goa

#BridgesofFriendship @makeinindia Goa Shipyard Ltd(GSL) built SL Navy AOPV Sayurala sails fm Goa. 2be escorted by INS Sunayna till Colombo. pic.twitter.com/kb6OE0cdho

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) July 27, 2017

Special Forces Of Indian and Sri Lanka Army begin Exercise Mithra Shakthi

Photos - Army.lk

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect, was signed between Captain Prakash Gopalan, Defence Adviser, High Commission of India and Brigadier Jayantha Guneratne, Director Training, Sri Lanka Army on Thursday (30) at the Army Headquarters in the presence of Major General Sumedha Perera, Director General General Staff.

Elevating existing relations to new heights and marking the start of a new era of neighbourly understanding and close cooperation between both organizations, a contingent of 42 Indian Army Special Force troops, is to launch the training ‘Exercise - Mithra Shakthi’ at Uva-Kudaoya Commando Regiment Training School (CRTS), beginning Monday (3), together with a corresponding Sri Lankan contingent of Special Forces and Commandos, along with Navy and Air Force personnel.

The ‘Exercise - Mithra Shakthi’, an initiative, designed largely by the Indian Army is the successful outcome of the ‘Annual Defence Dialogue’ (ADD) that was co-chaired in Colombo early October by both Mr R.K Mathur, Indian Defence Secretary and Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary to Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.

The Exercise, meant purely to share knowledge and experience between Special Operation Forces of both Sri Lanka and Indian Armies through enhancement of interoperability, joint efforts and mutual exchange of Special Operation tactics, saw its implementation on the directions of the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake. 168 officers and other ranks from Sri Lanka Army Special Forces and Commando Regiment, accompanied by 16 officers and other ranks from Sri Lanka Navy and 16 officers and other ranks from Sri Lanka Air Force, together with all 42 Indian Army Special Force troops, will participate in the Exercise until 23 November 2014.

The modalities for the three-week long Exercise have been closely coordinated through the Directorate of Army Training at the Army Headquarters in consultation with the corresponding authorities.

Yal Devi Queen of Jaffna arrives in former Sri Lankan war zone after 24 years

A nearly 400-km long Jaffna-Colombo railway line, reconstructed with Indian assistance in Sri Lanka's former war zone, was on Monday inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, 24 years after it was shut down during the civil war.The government hopes that the reopening of the rail link will help alleviate shortage of supplies in the north which was cut off during the conflict. The "Queen of Jaffna", a once-famous train linking the Tamil-majority north to the rest of the nation, stopped operation in 1990 after being attacked by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels who fought with the Island government to create an independent state for Tamil people.

India has helped provide the state of the art tracks and bridges that can accommodate train speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour as part of the technical support.
Indian assisted other projects worth USD 1.63 billions are currently underway in the island country. The railway tracks and Jaffna station were damaged during the war between the LTTE and the government forces. It was said that the members of both the LTTE and the army used the abandoned railway coaches as bunkers.

Sri Lanka Air Force MIG-27 crashes - Pilot unhurt

Feb 13, Colombo: A MIG-27 fighter jet of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has crashed today while on a training mission, the SLAF reported.

The fighter jet belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force No. 12 Jet Squadron at Katunayake crashed in an area called Dummalasooriya, 17 nautical miles away from Katunayake.The pilot Flight Lieutenant Tharidu Herath has executed a controlled ejection to safety. There was no life or property damage has been reported on the ground, the Air Force said.

 The Air Force Commander Air Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama has appointed a board to investigate the incident further.