President Maithripala Sirisena as the Commander in Chief has ordered the postponement of the controversial defence deal where the government of Sri Lanka is planning to buy a Gepard 5.1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) via alleged local intermediator of the Rosoboronexport. The order has come in light of the current local political circumstances, reliable sources in the Presidential Secretariat said.
However, no one in the ruling alliance has made a public statement on the issue so far.
Meanwhile, despite the serious shortcomings of two servings ships bought from India recently, the building of a third a third Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel is also underway at the Goa Shipyards, India.
According to the reliable sources, the third ship will be delivered in a few months.
However, “Everybody is discussing the Russian ship, but no one is concerned about the Indian ships while these deals are the most corrupt,” a senior serving military officer was quoted as saying.
“Nobody is held accountable when officers experience shortcomings of these ships bought from India. But, it is clear those behind the scene have earned millions of dollars out of these deals,” he added.
According to the Sri Lanka Navy, the Sri Lanka Navy’s first Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV), built at the Indian shipbuilding facility, Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL), was commissioned at the Eastern Container Terminal, port of Colombo last year.
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