The Sri Lankan Army’s team made its debut at the International Army Games in Russia recently.
It is the multi-faceted military ‘Olympics’ held, since 2015, simultaneously in a number of countries, including Russia, China, India, Iran, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The first team from the Sri Lankan Army, representing Airborne Troops, Snipers and Field Chefs, have started competing with its counterparts from 35 countries, in the region of Pskov, North-West Russia (Airborne Platoon Competition), Brest, Western Belarus (Snipers’ Frontier Competition) and in Moscow region (Field Kitchen Competition).
Sri Lanka Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake attended the opening ceremony of the Army Games. Major General M. K. D. Perera, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army Headquarters who was invited to Russia as the Chief National Referee representing Sri Lanka among other 35 countries in the Chief Referees Committee of the Games, joined the Army Commander at the opening ceremony. Accompanying the Army Commander were Major M. A. K. R. K. Abeywickramasinghe, Military Attaché to the Commander, Major W. W. M. Chaminda Bandara and Captain A. K. S. Silva, Delegation Coordinator and Aide de Camp to the Army Commander.
On August 5, Army Commander Senanayake, together with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, called on his Russian counterpart, General of the Army Oleg L. Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Land Forces, a combat veteran with 45 years of service. They shared views on the perspectives of interaction between the Land Forces of the two countries. The Russian state-owned Military TV Channel Zvezda covered the meeting
During the visit to the Alabino range, the venue of the International Army Games, Ambassador Jayatilleka was interviewed by the Vietnamese Military Media, while Army Commander Senanayake spoke to Zvezda TV Channel, sharing his views on the competition.
Later the day, the Commander and the Ambassador had a working meeting with officials of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation to discuss various aspects of technical supplies for the Sri Lanka Army and frameworks for further cooperation in this important sphere.
In addition to a variety of military exercises, the Fifth International Army Games provided a rich artistic program, where thousands of visitors and international military teams gained multicultural exposure. It also enriched the friendly atmosphere of the Games with many interesting highlights of the countries’ heritage. Sri Lanka presented traditional dances by Army performers and they were much acclaimed from the inception of the Games.
The inaugural ceremony of the Fifth International Army Games was opened with a welcome address by the Russian Defence Minister, General of the Army Sergey Shoigu. The ceremony was attended by the Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, Deputy Defence Minister (in charge of international military cooperation) Colonel General Alexandre Fomin, Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Nikolay Evmenov, representatives of the Russian Aerospace Forces Commandment and other leading officials of Russian and international Defence agencies and Services.