India gifts Dornier aircraft to strengthen maritime security of Sri Lanka

Colombo: India on Monday gifted a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Sri Lanka which will enable the island nation to tackle multiple challenges like human and drug trafficking, smuggling and other organised forms of crime in its coastal waters more effectively.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was present at the impressive handover ceremony which took place on a day when India celebrated its 76th Independence Day and a day before a high-tech Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship docks at the island nation’s strategic Hambantota port.
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The aircraft would act as a force multiplier, enabling Sri Lanka to tackle multiple challenges such as human and drug trafficking, smuggling and other organised forms of crime in its coastal waters more effectively, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
“Induction of the aircraft is timely in view of the current challenges to Sri Lanka’s maritime security,” the MEA said in a press release.
The gift to the people of Sri Lanka will equip the country to contribute more towards the security of the Indian Ocean Region at large.