Sunday, June 29, 2008

'Indian military to protect Manmohan during SAARC summit'

Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has approved a "heavy Indian military presence" in Colombo to provide security for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the upcoming SAARC summit in Colombo, said a media report here Sunday.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit is scheduled to take place from July 27 to August 3 in the capital city of Colombo.

"The formal request to have Indian troops, helicopter gun ships, bullet-proof vehicles and related security arrangements was made by the three-member Indian delegation that visited Sri Lanka June 20," the Sunday Leader newspaper reported, referring to the visit by a top Indian delegation led by National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan.

Claiming that the presidential approval was granted following a request made by India in view of the current security situation in the country, the media report said that Sri Lanka had also "agreed to allow the Indian Navy to patrol and carry out surveillance in Sri Lankan territorial waters during the summit to ensure there are no terrorist attacks from the sea".

Read more,
http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/World/20080629/986942.html

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