A Donier 228 maritime surveillance aircraft belonging to the Indian Navy is scheduled to be delivered to Sri Lanka today (15).
It coincides with today’s Indian Independence Day.
The Government of India is going to provide 3 such aircraft to the Government of Sri Lanka and this is its first aircraft.
According to a request made by Sri Lanka during a discussion on the security of the two countries held in New Delhi in 2018 India had agreed to provide the aircraft for free for the initial two years.
The aircraft is given free for two years, as it takes about two years to manufacture a new plane.
It is mentioned in the documents submitted to the Cabinet last March that a group of five Indian technical officers will visit Sri Lanka after the delivery of this aircraft.
These maritime surveillance and reconnaissance and rescue operations are to be carried out within the exclusive economic zone of Sri Lankan waters and Sri Lankan airspace.
