Colombo Defence Seminar themed ‘Evolving Military Excellence in the Contemporary Security Landscape’ shoots off today

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The Colombo Defence Seminar held for the ninth consecutive year began at the BMICH under the theme ‘Evolving Military Excellence in the Contemporary Security Landscape’. The military expects around 800 participants to attend the Defence Seminar including participants from 42 countries. The programme will include 13 foreign and 14 local speakers over nine sessions following a trajectory of intellectual interactions. The Defence Seminar will also include presentations of the participating experts and comments of the expert panel towards the culmination of the sessions. The Colombo Defence Seminar commenced in 2011 and has since been an annual event in the military calendar. Lt. General Shavendra Silva, Commander of the Army noted that in an era of where intelligence plays the upper hand as it decides the outcome of any given situation based on how it is received and processed. He added that it was important for countries with similar defence concerns to share intelligence with each other. He went on to note the importance of embracing technology in a world where everything is controlled by artificial intelligence. However, he added that he is also concerned about the domination of technology as he thinks of what Einstien said about the technology. He finally noted that "man's involvement in security is something that cannot be written off hastily" General (Retd) Shantha Kottegoda, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence stated that counter-terrorism has turned out to be the topmost of priorities in almost all the defence departments in the world. According to the Defence Secretary peace-loving way of life all over the globe is threatened from time to time by both self-motivated lone terrorists and terrorist organizations. He added that it was wise to practice a joint strategy when combating terrorism as it has no territorial boundaries. He finally stated that terrorism is a roadblock in the long path for sustainable economic growth.