India and Sri Lanka have agreed to hold a formal Annual Defence Dialogue beginning in 2011 for which an invitation has been extended to the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The decision was taken at the defence secretary level talks on Monday. The two sides were led by Indian Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and his Sri Lankan counterpart, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The two sides reviewed extensively the state of their defence cooperation and agreed to strengthen their existing links, especially in the field of training and service to service exchanges.

Given the commonality of concerns of both India and Sri Lanka, including with respect to the safety and security of their sea lanes of communication, both sides agreed that these issues would form their bilateral exchanges.

It was also agreed to commence staff-level talks between the navies and armies of the two countries and conduct a joint naval exercise between the navies of the two countries in 2011.

A press statement by the Indian High Commission in Colombo said that continuing the tradition of high-level exchanges, the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force would pay a visit Sri Lanka in January 2011.

The two sides also reviewed major ongoing projects, including reactivation of Palaly airport as a regional civil aviation hub and of Kankesanthurai harbour for regional and domestic trade and commerce.

Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar who is on a three day visit to Sri Lanka to strengthen bilateral defence ties between the two countries in the post conflict Sri Lanka, today called on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and discussed issues related to both countries.

During his visit, Mr. Kumar also paid homage to the memory of the valiant members of the Indian Peace Keeping Force by laying a wreath at the IPKF memorial. He also visited the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura on 28th December.

Mr. Kumar is scheduled to pay a visit to the Sri Lanka Air Force Base in Katunayake before his departure for India on Wednesday.