New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's three-day visit to Sri Lanka that ended Sept 10 is strategically more significant than the relatively modest value of the three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed in Colombo might suggest.

Since the visit of K C Pant 38 years ago in the troubled aftermath of Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement and quit notice given to Indian peacekeepers stationed in the North and East in 1987-90, this is the first visit by an Indian defence minister and it comes at a time when India is increasingly defining security in the Indian Ocean as inseparable from its own national security.

The visit therefore should not be viewed simply as another bilateral defence engagement. It represents an attemp...