COLOMBO: With India keeping a non-committal stance on matters related to the Tamil ethnic question, Sri Lanka has begun to see Pakistan as an ally which can be counted upon if the LTTE provokes another war.

President Rajapakse, who will make his first official visit to Pakistan later this month, is tipped to focus primarily on the purchase of military equipment, defence sources revealed.

The president’s visit comes in the background of rising tension in the northeast of Sri Lanka, and mass scale civilian militant training by the LTTE, despite peace talks commencing last month.

The Pakistan High Commissioner in Colombo, Bashir Wali Mohammed, says he sees Rajapakse’s visit to Pakistan, scheduled for March 31, as one that will bring trade ties closer but does not deny that the purpose of the presidential visit is primarily military.

For the Pakistan high commissioner, an ex-military official who has particularly close relations with Rajapakse, Pakistan-Sri Lanka relations stand out as the epitome of ‘true friendship’.

“The military aspect will be high on the agenda. Pakistan as a close friend will always be ready to help Sri Lanka with whatever the country needs. President Rajapakse will hold high-level discussions with the Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the minister for defence with regard to requests concerning military matters,” Mr Wali Mohammed said.

Pakistan, which saved Jaffna peninsula from falling into the hands of the LTTE in 2000 by selling Lanka the much needed multi- barrel rocket launchers to push the Tigers back, continues to train around 300 Sri Lankan military officers per year.

Pakistan has been Sri Lanka’s main military source ever since the West and India stopped military aid to the country.

A Free Trade Agreement was signed during the visit of President Pervez Musharraf in 2002. It became fully operational in June 2005.

The two countries earlier maintained a US$130 million annual trade of tea, garments, electronics, fruits, engineering goods and agricultural products. They now claim to have touched the US$600 million mark in less than a year of signing the FTA.

“The Free Trade Agreement is the first that Pakistan signed with any country and it has been extremely successful. It is an agreement where both countries stand to gain,” Wali Mohammed said, stating that a formal review of the FTA would be made during Rajapakse’s visit to Pakistan.

Sri Lanka is expected to sign several agreements with Pakistan during the visit of President Rajapakse, including pacts connected to tourism, culture and railways.

The two countries are also expected to look towards the possibility of exchanging technical expertise in producing engineering equipment and gem cutting.

The Pakistan high commissioner, a hard critic of the LTTE, said Pakistan would continue to support Sri Lanka in its quest for peace and maintenance of its territorial integrity.

Meanwhile, the LTTE has stepped up its training of civilians in the northeast for what, according to the rebels, will be the ‘final war’. The LTTE operatives in the West have heightened the collection of funds from Tamil expatriates for buying of arms.