Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka accompanied by Counsellor Mohamed Anas, and Defence Attache Group Capt Uditha Piyasena, visited the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre for the official closing ceremony of the 5th International Army Games 2019 (ARMY 2019) on 17 August 2019.
Ambassador Jayatilleka exchanged greetings with Russia’s Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces – 1st Deputy Minister of Defence General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, Deputy Minister of Defence Colonel General Alexander Fomin and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Nikolay Evmenov, and Minister of State for Defence of India Shripad Yesso Naik, during the event. The top Russian officials thanked the Ambassador for Sri Lanka’s participation at the Games and said that they are ready to cooperate with Sri Lanka. The Commander of the Navy mentioned that Russia’s heart is always open to Sri Lanka.
The Heads of foreign delegations of the countries participating in the ARMY 2019, the main referees of the competitions and team members and representatives of public organizations also took part in the closing ceremony of the International Army Games, annual competitions that pick the strongest military specialists from Russia and foreign countries in 32 military contests.
During the awards ceremony, high-ranking military officials presented prizes to the winners of tank biathlon competition and the overall leader. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan won 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively and the Russian team was also presented the Cup in the overall standing. Defence Minister Shoigu thanked all of the foreign Defence Ministers who made the commitment to participate in the games. He noted that this year over 200 teams from 39 countries took part in the competition held across 25 ranges in 10 countries including China, India, Iran and Russia. At the end of the gala concert, Minister Shoigu declared the International Army Games 2019 (ARMY 2019) closed.
The solemn ceremony of the International Army Games-2019 was followed by drone-borne colored lights and fireworks show and a dinner hosted by Russian Minister of Defence, which Ambassador Jayatilleka and Madame Sanja Jayatilleka were invited to.
