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India pledges US $50 million for Sri Lanka to buy military equipment

The Indian government has pledged US $50 million for Colombo to purchase military equipment, despite the Sri Lankan security forces’ record of torture, sexual violence and mass atrocities.

The announcement came after India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Saturday met Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo.

“A very cordial discussion was held,” tweeted Rajapaksa after the meeting. “Strengthening of bilateral cooperation on national security, intelligence sharing, maritime security & fostering of regional collaboration, were some of the key points of discussion.”

During the talks, India also pledged to provide assistance to Sri Lanka with technology on intelligence gathering.

The announcement comes as Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians R Sampanthan and M A Sumanthiran both highlighted promises made to India that the Sri Lankan government would devolve power to Tamil provinces.

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