Pakistan de-mining team to enhance cooperation

A 10 member de-mining team of officers from the Pakistan Army Engineering Corps is currently visiting Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Sri Lankan Army. The de-mining team will be staying in Sri Lanka from October 13 to 28, 2011.

Members of the Pakistani de-mining team with their Lankan counterparts.

The team is led by Colonel Zaafir Nisar. All members of the team have extensive humanitarian de-mining experience during their deployment at Sudan and Cambodia.

The purpose of this friendly visit by the Pakistani de-mining team is to share experiences for mutual benefit of concerned departments and engineers of both the armies.

The team during their stay will be visiting Mullaitivu and Madhu de-mining sites. During visit of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Pakistan Army General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in January 2011, it was mutually decided by the two Army’s commanders to send a team of qualified engineers from Pakistan having experience of de-mining that may provide impetus to efforts of Sri Lanka Army for clearing the identified locations.

Pakistan offers large number of courses to personnel of Armed Forces of Sri Lanka annually which includes training of personnel in de-mining. The team beside their professional endeavours will also be visiting Kandy, Galle, Hambantota and Sigiriya.

Since independence, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have consistently maintained close, cordial and mutually supportive relations especially in the field of defence. Both nations have assisted each other during testing times in their histories.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have comprehensive and mutually beneficial training collaboration for Army, Navy and Air Force. Over a period of time, a strong bond of commitment and mutual understanding has been reached between both the friendly armed forces. In future too, both the brotherly countries are expected to work more closely in the field of defence to boost peace efforts in the region.

This visit is expected to further enhance defence cooperation and friendly relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.