He said Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Cyril Herath led a three-member team into the talks with officials accompanying his Indian counterpart Ajay Prasad in New Delhi, he said.

"The two sides also discussed regional security and the fight against global terrorism. The talks will continue tomorrow after which the Sri Lankan team will meet Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes," spokesman Amitava Chakravarty said.

He said Sri Lanka was interested in buying Indian helicopters, small transport aircraft and naval vessels for its fledgling navy.

The two sides already have an agreement on intelligence-sharing, training of military personnel and the supply of life-saving equipment.

"Colombo, however, wants the cooperation broadened to include the sale of weapons systems by New Delhi," a ministry source said.

The ongoing visit of the Sri Lankan delegation is widely seen as a follow-up to a call for broader defence cooperation made by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe during his visit here last October.

India in the late 1980s lost around 1,200 troops when a peacekeeping force New Delhi sent to Sri Lanka to disarm Tamil separatist guerrillas was sucked into a costly bush war in the island's strife-torn northeast.

WAR.WIRE