Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar today called on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and discussed issues related to bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries. Earlier in the day, Defence Secretary along with his seven member delegation paid homage at the IPKF memorial in Colombo to members of the Indian armed forces who lost their lives in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. In a bid to enhance defence ties between the two countries, Sri Lanka and India have decided to hold a formal annual defence dialogue and staff level talks between their Armies and Navies from next year. The decisions were taken at the defence secretary level talks on Monday. The Sri Lankan side was led by their Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Defence Secretary and the seven-member delegation are on a three-day visit to the island nation to strengthen bilateral defence ties with Sri Lanka.