'India's refusal to supply arms forced Lanka to turn to China'

Colombo, May 25 (PTI) India had refused to supply
offensive weapons to Sri Lankan military during its critical
campaign against the LTTE, forcing Colombo to turn to China
for purchases.

"India had told us they were not in a position to sell
or send offensive weapons or even equipment like radars and
basic communication equipment to meet our requirements,"
Lankan Army chief Sarath Fonseka said. This, he said, had led
Colombo to approach countries like Pakistan, China and Russia
for meeting its urgent needs.

He said while Islamabad told Sri Lanka it had limited
amount of ammunition and could not meet the requirements
projected by Colombo, similar equipment from Russia, Ukraine
and other countries "proved for us to be very costly".

"So we had no other option," Fonseka told India's
private television channel NDTV, "but to obtain heavy weaponry
from China."

Fonseka said for the first time recently Sri Lanka had
bought "artillery and infantry weapons including armoured
personnel carriers and other systems to overcome ambushes".

"It was readily available and comparatively cheaper --
almost half the price compared to Russia. I think, we had no
other option," the Army chief said in an apparent reference to
sensitivities in India over arms supplies to Lanka. PTI SDE
PMR
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