Colombo: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have taken note of the proposed defence cooperation agreement between New Delhi and Colombo and said it could tilt the military balance of power and damage an already fragile truce between the insurgents and the Government forces.

The leaders of the two countries agreed during Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to India in October last year to start talks on the deal that may include New Delhi supplying Colombo with military equipment and training its Defence personnel.

The LTTE's (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) chief peace negotiator Anton Balasingham had pointed out to the Norwegian facilitators that the proposed agreement might upset the balance of forces to the disadvantage of the LTTE, the pro-rebel website reported.

"Disturbing that military equilibrium would lead to the disturbance of the ceasefire agreement, the very foundation on which the Sri Lankan peace process stands," Balasingham was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Tamil Net website.

"A military pact with India would encourage the Sinhala political leadership to take a hard-line, belligerent attitude towards the (minority) Tamils and eventually destroy the mutual trust between the estranged communities, a crucial factor necessary for the consolidation and promotion of peace," Balasingham said.

He argued that there was no strategic necessity for the Indian Government to rush into a Defence agreement with military implications at this crucial time when the peace process itself is endangered by the political crisis in Colombo.