The second Defence Seminar, tiled ‘Towards Lasting Peace and Stability’, would be held from August 8-10 at Galadari Hotel, Colombo
Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya on Wednesday (11) said that the forthcoming seminar, organized by Sri Lanka Army next month, would be an open forum of sharing the knowledge and expertise on the war and the post war reconciliation progress of the government, as there were armies in the world that have never fought a single war.
Addressing the media, the Commander said that 63 countries have been invited and they were awaiting confirmation from them.
But, 24 representatives from 14 countries have confirmed their participation in the deliberation, he said.
The second Defence Seminar, tiled ‘Towards Lasting Peace and Stability’, would be held from August 8-10 at Galadari Hotel, Colombo and it would deal with, mainly the 5Rs- Reconstruction, Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Reconciliation.
Defence Secretary and Urban Development, Gotabaya Rajapaksa would deliver the keynote address during the inauguration sessions, he said.
"Over 22 speakers, including intellectuals, bureaucrats and military officers, are scheduled to share their views, learn and adapt experiences, explore ways and means for applicability of new technologies for development, promote economic revival and reconciliatory moves for long-lasting peace and stability, etc during these sessions," he said.
Guest speakers from the UK, USA, China and Pakistan are expected to deliver talks and the UK speaker, Sir Bill Jeffery, has already confirmed his participation through the embassy, he said.
He emphasized that the three-day deliberation would be designed to dwell exclusively on two topics on the first two days and the final day on Reconciliation. The first day would deal with Reconstruction and Resettlement while second day it would be Rehabilitation and Reintegration.
No militarymen will speak on reconciliation as it is open for government intellectuals and politicians, he said.
Co-sponsors Sri Lanka Telecom, SriLankan Airlines and Ceylon Leather Products handed over their cheques officially.
Srilankan Airlines will provide six free Business class tickets for Guest speakers while they would grant 15 per cent discount to individuals of each delegation if they travel on their airlines, he said.
Local guest speakers:
Lalith Weeratunge, Secretary to President, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantations, Dr. Rajeeva Wijesinghe (MP), Dr. Ajith Nivard Cabral, Governor for Central Bank, S. B. Diaratne, Secretary, Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, Mrs. Imelda Sukumar, Additional Secretary, Presidential Secretariat and former District Secretary for Jaffna, Dr. Malkanthi Hettiarachchi, Dr. M. Safras, Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander of the Army, Major General M. Hathurusinghe, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters-Jaffna, Major General G. D. H. K. Gunaratne, Adjutant General, Major General S. Ranasinghe, Major General A. W. J. C. De Silva, Colonel Commandant, Sri Lanka Engineers and Brigadier D. D. U. K. Hettiarachchi, Commissioner General Rehabilitation.
(Island)