Army Commander tells Defence Advisers/Attaches, armed forces will uphold Constitution

Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva  

Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army General Shavendra Silva yesterday told a group of diplomats in Colombo that the armed forces of Sri Lanka would uphold the Constitution.

“The Army as a professional outfit is always prepared to provide security and protection to the State as necessary,” Silva said while addressing a gathering of Defence Advisers/Attaches of Sri Lanka-based High Commissions and embassies, invited to the Office of Chief of Defence Staff yesterday.

The meeting was held to appraise the Defence Advisers/Attaches informed of the current situation.

Defence Adviser Australia Captain Ian Keith Cain, Defence Adviser Bangladesh Commander M Shafil Bari, Military, Naval and Air Attaché China Senior Colonel Wan Dong, Assistant Military Naval and Air Attache China Lieutenant Colonel Chang Qianjin, Defence Adviser India Captain Vikas Sood Assistant Defence Adviser India Lieutenant Colonel Punnet Sushill, Military Attaché Iran Colonel Homayou Ali Yari, Defence / Security Attaché Japan Captain Gaku Fukaura, 

Defence Adviser Maldives Colonel Ismail Naseer, Defence Adviser Pakistan Colonel Muhammad Safdar Khan, Military, Naval and Air Attaché Russia Colonel Aleksey A Bondarev, 

Defence Adviser United Kingdom Colonel P.J Clayton, and Naval Attaché United States of America Lieutenant Commander Richard Lister, were present at this meeting.