Japanese ambassador Akio Isomata and Treasury Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma sign the exchange of notes in Colombo on 10 November. Photograph: Ministry of Defence
Japan will give the Sri Lankan navy 25 patrol boats to be deployed across its commands including the North and East, under a ¥1 billion military grant signed in Colombo, its second package of security assistance to Sri Lanka's armed forces in just over a year.
The Japanese ambassador, Akio Isomata, and Sri Lanka's Treasury Secretary, Harshana Suriyapperuma, signed the exchange of notes on Tuesday in the presence of Defence Secretary Sampath Thuyacontha and the navy commander, according to the Ministry of Defence . The grant, worth around Rs 2.1 billion, is for rigid hull inflatable boats to strengthen the navy's “maritime safety and security capabilities, including monitoring, surveillance, and disaster response”, the Japanese embassy said .
According to the Treasury , the 25 boats are expected to be deployed across the Northern, Eastern, North Western, Western and Southern naval commands to support coastal surveillance and law enforcement. The Defence Ministry will coordinate the project, with the navy as the end user.
“Japan is committed to assisting Sri Lanka in strengthening its capacity to independently carry out security and law enforcement functions, while playing a proactive role in upholding the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region,” Isomata said.
Isomata and Suriyapperuma exchange the notes as navy officers look on. Photograph: Ministry of Defence
The grant is the second for Sri Lanka under Japan's Official Security Assistance scheme, launched in 2023 to strengthen “the security and deterrence capabilities of like-minded countries”. Under the first, signed in Tokyo in September 2025, Japan agreed to supply the navy with surveillance drones worth ¥500 million. The embassy said their procurement was still being processed.
The signing of Japan's first security assistance agreement with Sri Lanka in Tokyo in September 2025. File photograph
The assistance comes as the navy faces scrutiny over its record. A former navy commander, Ravindra Wijegunaratne, has been named as a suspect in the “Navy 11” case over the abduction and disappearance of predominantly Tamil youths in 2008 and 2009, who were allegedly held at navy bases in Trincomalee and Colombo. In June, the CID sealed an underground detention site known as the “Gun Site” at the Trincomalee naval base, where nearly 60 people were allegedly held, tortured and extorted.
The navy also continues to occupy Tamil land across the North-East.
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