Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh meets President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo this morning to exchange the three defence agreements whose contents were disclosed on Tuesday, on the second day of the first visit by an Indian Defence Minister in 38 years.

Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath, speaking at a Cabinet press briefing, added the detail that had been missing from every previous account: the Indian state defence manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited will carry out the maintenance work under the third agreement.

The company behind the L70 agreement

The third and most substantive of the three agreements covers maintenance and repair of Sri Lanka Air Force air defence equipment. Herath said India donated 24 units of 40mm L70 anti-aircraft guns to the Air Force between 2000 and 2006, and has already serviced 18 of them free of charge.

“These 24 air defence weapons were provided to us as grant aid, along with support and sponsorship for their repair and maintenance,” he said, according to the Daily Mirror. “The third agreement will be signed for the maintenance of the remaining six units.”

Herath’s naming of Bharat Electronics answers part of a question left open when the agreements were first described — who actually performs the work. It does not answer how long the undertaking runs.

One point of caution: the Daily Mirror describes Bharat Electronics as “Mumbai-based.” The company is a defence public sector undertaking headquartered in Bengaluru. No other outlet carried the company’s name at all, so the attribution rests on a single report.

The first agreement links the Sri Lanka Cadet Corps with its Indian counterpart for mutual training and joint programmes. The second connects Sri Lanka’s National Defence College with the National Defence College in New Delhi, covering knowledge sharing and the exchange of instructional staff.

”India will stand with Sri Lanka in any crisis”

Singh said at Tuesday afternoon’s welcoming ceremony in Colombo that India will stand with Sri Lanka in any crisis, Hiru News reported.

Herath framed the visit more broadly than its defence billing. “The Indian Defence Minister is a very mature political leader and Minister in Indian politics. He is visiting Sri Lanka primarily to further strengthen relations between Sri Lanka and India, and not solely for defence matters,” he said.

Wednesday’s programme

After the President, Singh holds what the Foreign Ministry calls a cordial interaction with senior Defence Ministry officials, then meets Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya this afternoon, NewsFirst reported. A Bodhi Pooja at the Gangaramaya Temple follows in the afternoon, and the Seetha Amman Temple in Nuwara Eliya tomorrow morning.

A special traffic plan operates today around the Galle Face Roundabout, Kollupitiya, the Independence Roundabout, Battaramulla and several Colombo roads.

Who signed the 2025 MoU, and where

Hiru, citing The Hindu, reports that the visit will review implementation of the India–Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation MoU signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka in 2025, and that maritime security in the Indian Ocean will receive particular attention.

That differs from the account in our earlier report, where the Sunday Times placed the same MoU at President Dissanayake’s visit to India. Both date it to 2025. Modi visited Colombo in April 2025; the Indian account has the agreement signed on Sri Lankan soil during that visit. The discrepancy is over the host and venue, not the substance or the year, and neither outlet acknowledges the other.

Not reported

None of Wednesday morning’s reports says who signs on the Sri Lankan side, whether the texts will be published, or how long the Bharat Electronics maintenance undertaking runs. Singh is also due to observe proceedings in Parliament on the day it debates the Bill abolishing the Chief of Defence Staff post.

Sources