Rajnath Singh to visit Sri Lanka from September 8 to 10
Rajnath Singh to Visit Sri Lanka as India Looks to Deepen Defence Ties
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Sri Lanka from September 8 to 10 for talks with the country’s leadership, with maritime security and defence cooperation expected to remain important areas of discussion.
Rajnath Singh will lead a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of External Affairs. During the three-day visit, he is also scheduled to meet members of the Indian diaspora in Colombo, according to the Press Information Bureau announcement issued on September 6.
The visit comes at a time when India and Sri Lanka are maintaining close contact on security, economic recovery, disaster response and regional cooperation. The two countries are separated by a narrow stretch of sea, making developments in the Indian Ocean an important part of their relationship.
For India, Sri Lanka is also important because of its position along major sea routes in the Indian Ocean. Cooperation between the two countries has therefore included naval exercises, military training, maritime surveillance and assistance during emergencies.
India and Sri Lanka have regular defence exchanges, including meetings between senior military officials and an annual Defence Dialogue between their defence secretaries. The two countries also conduct the SLINEX naval exercise and MITRA SHAKTI army exercise. MITRA SHAKTI was last held in Sri Lanka in August 2024, while SLINEX took place off Visakhapatnam in December 2024.
India also provides around 1,200 training opportunities each year for members of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Another major project has been the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre for the Sri Lanka Navy, which was commissioned in June 2024 with Indian assistance.
An Indian Navy Dornier aircraft has operated from Trincomalee with the Sri Lanka Air Force since August 2022 for maritime surveillance. Such arrangements are important for a country surrounded by busy sea lanes and facing risks that include illegal fishing, smuggling, maritime accidents and natural disasters.
The two countries have also worked together when maritime accidents threatened Sri Lankan waters. Indian naval and coast guard forces assisted Sri Lanka during the MT New Diamond fire in 2020 and the MV X-Press Pearl disaster in 2021.
One of the clearest recent examples came after Cyclone Ditwah struck Sri Lanka in late 2025.
India launched Operation Sagar Bandhu on November 28, 2025, to provide search and rescue support and humanitarian assistance. Indian Navy ships already in Colombo, including INS Vikrant and INS Udaygiri, were used for relief work. INS Sukanya was later sent to Trincomalee.
The scale of the response grew over the following days. By December 9, India had delivered about 1,058 tonnes of relief material, including food supplies, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, water purification equipment, medicines and surgical supplies. Indian naval vessels carried more than 1,000 tonnes of relief material to Colombo and Trincomalee.
Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopters rescued 264 people and carried 50 tonnes of supplies. More than 2,500 stranded Indian nationals were also evacuated, including 400 by Indian Air Force aircraft. A temporary field hospital at Mahiyanganaya treated more than 2,200 patients.
Indian Army engineers also helped restore damaged transport links. A 120-foot Bailey bridge was opened in Kilinochchi District on December 23, 2025, after being transported from India. The bridge weighed 110 tonnes and helped restore road connectivity in an area badly affected by the cyclone.
The disaster response also involved direct contact between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. During a telephone conversation on December 1, 2025, Dissanayake thanked India for its assistance and the rapid deployment of rescue teams and relief supplies.
Defence ties are one part of a much larger India-Sri Lanka relationship. India has provided economic assistance to Sri Lanka, including during the country’s severe economic crisis in 2022. Indian support included credit facilities for essential goods, fuel and other supplies.
Development cooperation has also continued. In April 2026, India and Sri Lanka announced several agreements during the visit of India’s Vice-President to Sri Lanka. These included an agreement for a four-storey medical ward complex at the District General Hospital in Mullaitivu and several projects under a grant programme for Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province.
The economic and development relationship matters because Sri Lanka has been working to recover from the financial crisis that pushed the country into a severe shortage of foreign exchange, fuel, food and medicines. India’s assistance during that period helped maintain supplies at a time of serious economic pressure.
The exact agreements or announcements from Rajnath Singh’s September visit have not been disclosed in advance. The government has said that he will hold discussions with Sri Lankan leaders on a range of issues and that the visit will cover areas of mutual interest, including maritime and defence cooperation.
The timing also allows both sides to review the practical work already taking place between their armed forces. Training programmes, naval exercises, maritime surveillance and disaster-response operations have created regular contact between the two countries.
India’s stated approach towards Sri Lanka is linked to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s MAHASAGAR vision, which focuses on security and growth across the Indian Ocean region. The Sri Lankan government, for its part, has continued to maintain working relations with India on economic, development and security matters.
Rajnath Singh’s three-day visit will therefore be watched for more than its formal meetings. Any new decisions on maritime security, military training, disaster response or defence cooperation could shape how India and Sri Lanka work together in the waters around the island in the years ahead.