The visiting Indian Army chief General V K Singh called on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister D M Jayaratne and the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and discussed issues related to bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries. Earlier in the morning, General Singh was given a ceremonial guard of Honour by the Sri Lankan Army at the Army Headquarters in Colombo. The 5-day visit of the Army Chief hopes to strengthen bilateral military ties and defence cooperation between the two neighbours. The visit is also being seen as a preparatory to the Indo-Lanka defence dialogue scheduled to begin next year.