Re: India has rights of an elder brother, says Lanka.
Offensive weaponary, I dont understand the terminology . Every weapon is offensive in nature. Nobody have weapons just to defend. Leaving aside the terminology, if you are talking about weapons which kill in mass numbers (very distructive) then India has all rights to refuse and also prevent SriLanka from acquiring too. Tamils have a relationship with India and India will not allow given the power it has to arm Srilanka with ur so called offensive equipments. India has a genuine problem with LTTE, but not with tamils in general. Tamils have legitimate right over Srilanka and Sinhalese should learn to co-exist with tamils. Pakistan or China have no business in Srilanka. It is India who is the neighbour and tamil majority is living in India, neither is tamils threatening pakistan or China so that they need to enter into this conflict.
Quite simply, offensive weaponry means that the Sri Lankan Army will have the capability to launch an offensive war.
Primarily, Rocket Launchers for saturating enemy positions with deadly fire. This weapon proved most deadly against the Tamils as the Sri Lankan Army got it from Pakistan. Anti-Tank Missiles useful for destroying fortified positions, Armor Personnel Carriers to ferry troops to the battlefield in protection, Mortars to shell enemy positions. Night Vision Goggles, so that the Sri Lankan Army can conduct operations in the night.
These are the weapons that Sri Lanka asked from Pakistan and this is what we will deliver.
What India has offered is Radars, jamming equipment, machine guns and light infantry weapons. Hardly the weapons needed to defeat the LTTE terrorists.
And why don't Pakistan and China have any business in Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka is an independent country which can make decisions on its own.
If India refuses to help Sri Lanka against the LTTE terrorists then it has every right to seek other countries help in its fight.
If it chooses to buy weapons from Pakistan and China and so be it. Who the hell is India to dictate foreign policy to another country?
And besides, Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal and now Sri Lanka all have better relations with China than India. All buy mostly Chinese weaponry rather than Indian weaponry.
India is a regional bully, and the current threat to Sri Lanka is yet another example of a long line Indian attempts to bully its neighbors, whether its flooding Bangladesh, not helping Nepal in its struggle against Maoist rebels, or building dams which divert water to Burma.
Pakistan is the only country strong enough to stand up to India within the region and is entering this conflict on the side of the Sinhalese to increase our geo-political importance, to sell our weapons and make profit, to help our Sri Lanka friends against these terrorists, and create a strong alliance with Sri Lanka and project our power across this region and end the hegemony of India which is spread throughout this region and much despised.
Pakistan will continue to do this, whether India likes it or not.