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Publication: Mail Today
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Pakistan had positioned its military officers
and fighter pilots in Sri Lanka to assist Colombo's war against the LTTE,
apparently to dilute India's strategic influence in the island nation.
While New Delhi could not militarily assist
Colombo given the political sensitivities back home, Islamabad took full advantage
of it and sent its fighter pilots who participated in attacks targeting LTTE
bases, particularly after 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was voted as President,
Pakistani daily The News and sources in New Delhi said.
Pakistani army officers, soldiers, technicians
and air force (PAF) pilots had been stationed in the island nation over the
last three years for training their counterparts and participating in the
attacks against the Tigers.
"The Pakistani military personnel were
playing different roles on different occasions during the last three years.
The military under President Pervez Musharraf went an extra mile to extend
assistance to Lanka," one of the sources said.
Pakistan's assistance was key to the Lankan
army winning several battles against the LTTE. This January, Pakistan 's defence
secretary Lt- Gen ( retd) Syed Athar Ali met his Lankan counterpart , Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, in Rawalpindi , wherein the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation
in military training, exercises and intelligence sharing regarding terrorism.
This decision was arrived at amid reports
that the PAF pilots had participated in several successful air strikes against
the LTTE military bases in August 2008.
There were also reports that a trained group
of Pakistani officers was stationed in Colombo to guide the Sri Lankan security
forces in their counter- insurgency operations.
When Lankan army chief General Sarath Fonseka
visited Pakistan in May 2008, he met his counterpart, General Ashfaq Pervez
Kayani, to conclude the purchase of high- tech arms for the Lankan armed forces.
Fonseka had reportedly finalised a deal according to which Pakistan sold 22
al- Khalid tanks to Sri Lanka in a deal worth over Rs 500 crore.
Fonseka also gave a shopping list of weapons
worth Rs 325 crore to the Pakistani military. He had further sought 2,50,000
rounds of mortar ammunition worth Rs 125 crore and hand grenades.
During the past three years, Pakistan was
dispatching arms and ammunition to Sri Lanka every alternative week. Incidentally,
Colombo approached India's twin adversaries China and Pakistan for military
support, which utilised the opportunity to the fullest, thereby developing
strategic ties with the Lankan regime.
During its key battle to overrun the LTTE's
political capital, Kilinochchi, the Lankan army was running short of ammo
but was supplied mortars and grenades every 10 days from Pakistan.
The LTTE did its best to scuttle this partnership
between Islamabad and Colombo. On August 14, 2006, Pakistan High Commissioner
to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohammed, narrowly escaped a blast.
However, the arms from Pakistan were not without
defects. A sources here claimed many artillery pieces and tanks supplied by
Islamabad misfired.
