Indo-Lankan top Defence Committee established

Colombo, Sep 7 (UNI) Sri Lanka has announced the establishment of a top level Indo-Lankan Defence Committee comprising top officials from both the countries.

'' An Indo-Lankan Committee of top officials on defence related matters was established following the visit of a high level delegation of officials to Delhi this week'', the President's Office quoted diplomatic sources here in a statement.

'' The composition of the Committee is as follows: Secretary to the president Lalith Weeratunga, Defence Secretary Gothabhaya Rajapaksa and Senior Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka) and Defence Secretary Shri Vijay Singh, External Affairs Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Advisor M K Narayanan (India),'' the statement said.

Claiming that the establishment of the Committee was a direct outcome of the discussions the Sri Lankan delegation had with their counterparts in New Delhi earlier this week, the President's office said the current security situation in the North and developmental activities in the East were among the key issues discussed.

'' A fruitful discussion was also held on combating terrorism and devolving power as a means of finding a solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka,'' the statement said, adding that India has reiterated its commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and expressed hopes that a solution would be soon be found to the grievances of Sri Lankan Tamils through devolution of power.

'' The Sri Lankan side explained the steps taken by the Government to expedite the work of the All Party Representative Conference so as to find a lasting solution to the conflict,'' it said.

UNI