India has donated defence and medical equipment worth USD 5 million to the Sri Lanka Army, in a handover ceremony at Army Headquarters in Akuregoda that the two governments framed as a deepening of long-standing defence cooperation.
The consignment was formally presented on Tuesday by India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, to Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Sampath Thuyyakontha, with Sri Lanka Army Commander Lieutenant General Lasantha Rodrigo also in attendance, Newswire reported. Ada Derana said the package includes a trauma care system and was transported on the Indian Naval Ship INS Sharda, which visited Colombo from June 10 to 13 and facilitated the transfer.
Jha described the donation as a further outcome of the strong ties between the armed forces of the two nations, saying cooperation extends beyond training and humanitarian assistance to capacity building, infrastructure development and the provision of military equipment. He recalled India’s swift humanitarian response during Cyclone Ditwah under Operation Sagar Bandhu, highlighting joint search and rescue operations, medical aid and infrastructure restoration carried out in coordination with Sri Lankan units. Jha also referenced the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 2025 visit to Colombo as the framework anchoring the bilateral defence track.
Thuyyakontha, speaking on behalf of the President and the Ministry of Defence, thanked India as a “trusted partner during natural disasters, economic recovery efforts, capacity development, and defense cooperation.” Senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Sri Lanka Army and the Indian High Commission attended.
Tuesday’s USD 5 million handover comes against the backdrop of India’s USD 450 million emergency commitment for Cyclone Ditwah recovery, which Indian officials have pledged to expedite. The donation also lands the same day that China’s defence attaché to Colombo, Senior Colonel Fu Xiao, called on Deputy Defence Minister Maj. Gen. Aruna Jayasekara to discuss maritime security cooperation — underscoring the parallel defence engagements Sri Lanka is now running with its two largest neighbours.
India and Sri Lanka have stepped up military exchanges over the past year, with Fu Xiao earlier holding a separate call on Defence Secretary Thuyyakontha and other foreign defence attachés rotating through Akuregoda. Tuesday’s tranche follows a recent pattern of equipment, training and medical-aid handovers New Delhi has used to anchor the bilateral defence track.
