In August 2019 the Sri Lankan Army national team made its debut at the International Army Games in Russia, 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. This month, the first team from the Sri Lankan Army, proudly representing Airborne Troops, Snipers and Field Chefs, have started competing with international counterparts from 35 countries, respectively, in the region of Pskov, North-West Russia (Airborne Platoon Competition), Brest, Western Belarus (Snipers’ Frontier Competition) and in Moscow region (Field Kitchen Competition).
Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Sri Lanka Army 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, Lieutenant General M. Senanayake, together with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia H. E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, made a call on his Russian counterpart, General of the Army Oleg L. Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Land Forces. General Salyukov is a combat veteran with 45 years in service, who was in command of the Victory Parades in Moscow and decorated with orders and 9 medals. The meeting was covered by the Russian state-owned Military TV Channel Zvezda. The meeting evolved into a productive friendly discussion with shared views on the perspectives of interaction between the Land Forces of the two countries.
During the visit to the Alabino range, the venue of the International Army Games, Ambassador Jayatilleka was interviewed by the Vietnamese Military Media, while Commander of the Sri Lankan Land Forces spoke to Zvezda TV Channel, sharing his views on the competition.
Later the same 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 5th International Army Games provide a rich artistic performance program, where thousands of visitors, as well as international military teams participating in the Games gain multicultural exposure, representing varied talents which enrich the friendly atmosphere of the Games with many interesting highlights of their respective countries’ heritage. Sri Lanka presented its acclaimed traditional dances, by the dedicated team of Army performers who enjoyed a lot of public attention and applause from the very opening of the International Army Games.
The inaugural ceremony of the 5th International Army Games was opened by 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 (on 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.
