Rajnath Singh to Visit Sri Lanka This Week for Talks on Deepening Defence Cooperation

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to travel to Sri Lanka on September 9 and 10, in a trip aimed at strengthening bilateral defence ties, with maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region expected to be a central theme of the discussions, according to sources in the Ministry of Defence.

During the visit, Singh is expected to hold talks with Sri Lankan President and Defence Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, and Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Sampath Thuyacontha. He is also expected to meet the tri-service commanders of the Sri Lankan armed forces during his stay — marking his first visit to the island nation in his capacity as Defence Minister.

What’s on the agenda

The talks are expected to focus on reviewing the full and timely implementation of the India–Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Colombo in April 2025. That agreement was the first-ever umbrella MoU on defence cooperation between the two countries and set up a structured framework for bilateral military engagement, addressing shared security concerns in the Indian Ocean.

The five-year pact covers areas such as joint military exercises, capacity building, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief cooperation, and more frequent port calls by naval vessels of both countries. It also opens the door to cooperation in the defence industry, and can be extended by mutual agreement or terminated with three months’ notice by either side.

Wider context

Singh’s trip follows a visit to Colombo by India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, and is being framed as part of India’s push to speed up implementation of agreements reached during recent high-level exchanges between the two governments — including projects on the electricity grid interconnection, the Sampur solar power initiative, and the development of Trincomalee as an energy hub.

The visit also comes against the backdrop of India’s continuing emphasis on maritime security partnerships with Indian Ocean littoral states, amid a broader regional environment shaped by growing Chinese naval and research-vessel activity in Sri Lankan waters in recent years — a recurring point of concern that New Delhi has raised with Colombo in the past.