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Sri Lanka, US enter into military pact

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, March 6, IRNA
Sri Lanka-US-Military pact
Sri Lanka and the United States have entered into a 10-year agreement to provide reciprocal logistical support for their respective military forces.

The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) was signed by Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake in Colombo, a PTI report said here quoting US embassy sources.

"The agreement will allow the US and Sri Lanka to transfer and exchange logistics supplies, support, and re-fueling services, either in kind or at cost," a statement from the embassy said.

"Each nation's forces can support the other during contingencies, such as disaster relief or peacekeeping operations, which reduces the logistics requirement for each nation," the statement added.

ACSA becomes effective today after a five-year delay since it was first mooted in March 2002.

The reason for the delay has not been given, but changes in governments have taken place in the meantime.

The statement further adds that the United States has similar agreements with 89 other countries.

Although the US has outlawed Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels since October 1997, Washington still urges Colombo to open peace talks with the Tigers.

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