Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Bahrain Pradeepa Saram met with the BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa recently. While conveying greetings and best wishes to the newly appointed Ambassador for a successful tenure in Manama, Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa referred the deep-rooted cordial bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Bahrain even before the formal diplomatic relations were established in 1992.
During the meeting both the Ambassador and the BDF Commander-in-Chief discussed the importance of increasing the defence and security cooperation between Sri Lanka and Bahrain and acknowledged the necessity to strengthen the sharing of information and assessments.
BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa proposed that both countries need to enhance their collaboration, especially in the ranges of training, exchange of defence delegations, and sharing experience in peace keeping operations with the UN. The Ambassador, while agreeing to the suggestion stated that Sri Lanka being a country that has been a long-standing contributor to UN Peacekeeping since 1960, will be pleased to share its experiences.
The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) is the military force of the Kingdom of Bahrain that comes under the command of Bahrain's Ministry of Defence and consists of the Royal Bahraini Air Force, Royal Bahraini Army, Royal Bahraini Navy and the Royal Guard.
BDF General Headquarters Director Major-General Hassan Mohamed Sa'ad; and, Military Cooperation Director (Naval) Rear Admiral Mohamed Hashim Al-Sada, were also present at the meeting.
