What has Pakistan got to do with LTTE defeat? Plenty, says report

Thursday, May 28, 2009
London: Pakistan's supply of high-tech military equipment and positioning of some of its highly trained army officers in Sri Lanka played a key role in the ultimate defeat of Tamil Tigers, Pakistani media has claimed.

"It was the Pakistani defence cooperation with Sri Lanka as the largest suppliers of high-tech military equipment that played a major role in the ultimate defeat of the LTTE at the hands of the Sri Lankan army," The News quoted well placed sources in the Pakistani establishment as saying.

The newspaper said the defence cooperation between Sri Lanka and Pakistan had grown significantly in recent years as Islamabad, unlike New Delhi, had no problems supplying the state-of-the-art weaponry to Lankan army to accelerate its counter-insurgency operations against the LTTE which finally ended with the killing of Tamil chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

It was exactly a year ago, in the first week of May 2008, that Sri Lankan Army Chief Lt Gen Fonseka visited Pakistan and held detailed talks with his Pakistani counterpart Chief of Army Staff General Asfaq Parvez Kayani to finalise the purchase of high-tech arms for the Lankan armed forces, which were embroiled in an intense battle with the LTTE forces even at that time.

According to the report, during the talks with Pakistani military authorities, Lt Gen Fonseka had finalised a deal under which Pakistan supplied 22 Al-Khalid main battle tanks to Sri Lanka worth $100 million.

Fonseka also gave a shopping list of weaponry worth about $65 million to the Pakistani military authorities, the newspaper said.

While the Sri Lankan army chief's shopping list for the army was pegged at $25 million, the inventory for the Lankan air force was worth $40 million. He had further sought 250,000 rounds of 60mm, 81mm, 120mm and 130mm mortar ammunition worth $25 million and 150,000 hand grenades for immediate delivery to the Lankan army within a month.

Pakistan also accepted the visiting General's request to send one shipload of the items needed every 10 days to bolster the Lankan military efforts to take over Kilinochchi, the political headquarters of the LTTE.
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What has Pakistan got to do with LTTE defeat? Plenty, says report