Sri Lanka is currently in talks with India to set up a small arms manufacturing unit, State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon said.
State Minister Tennakoon told the media on Wednesday that Sri Lanka was in the process of discussing a joint venture on the military and defence industry with India.
Acknowledging that the Sri Lankan Military has the expertise for manufacturing weapons, he said Sri Lanka must look into entering the manufacturing industry.
“We are already doing it, but currently at a small scale. We are in touch with our Indian counterparts. We can also do wonders with their help. Discussions in this regard are ongoing,” he said.
State Minister Tennakoon also clarified that Sri Lanka was not trying to purchase any armoury from India at the moment.
“India and Sri Lanka military-to-military connectivity is good and at a high level. India’s manufacturing arm has boomed during the last two decades. It is a model Sri Lanka has to look into, as we can learn a lot from it,” he further said.
State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon made the remarks in response to questions raised on his participation in the seminar held on Defence Cooperation to promote Indian Made Defence equipment and explore avenues for collaboration in defence production in Colombo in April.
Organized by the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, the seminar was held to identify it as another platform to explore ways of extending India’s increasing capabilities in the defence sector to Sri Lanka. (Newswire)