India will send three Colonels to take part in the seminar on ‘defeating terrorism’ organised by the Sri Lankan Army from May 31 to June 2, Sri Lankan Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya said.
A team headed by a Major General will represent Pakistan while a Lieutenant General will lead the Bangladesh delegation. Russia will send six officers to the seminar, hosted at a cost of about LKR 45 million. As many as 54 countries were initially invited. Of this, some, including Australia, France, Japan, Jordan, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Norway and United Kingdom, have written that they would not send delegations from their countries. There has been no response from the United States, he added.
Two Chinese companies, Chinese Poly technologies and China Electrical and Technologies Corporation, have underwritten much of the cost of the seminar. “I cannot reveal how much sponsorship they have given,” said Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya, when asked about the amount of sponsorship. Both Chinese companies are into defence technologies.
The international seminar, ‘Defeating Terrorism — The Sri Lanka Experience’ intends to share Sri Lanka's experience on the road to military defeat of the LTTE. The three-day seminar, a first of its kind to be held in Sri Lanka is to be attended by over 300 delegates, including defence personnel, commanders, experts, professionals, academics and senior military officials. “To date, a total of 42 countries have so far confirmed their participation. More are expected to respond within the next few days,” he added.
Asked if the seminar will seek to counter the United Nations Secretary General’s Expert Panel Report on Sri Lanka, which has five findings against Sri Lanka, Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya said there was nothing to counter in the report. “I have read the report…There are no allegations in it; only hearsay,” he claimed.
Commenting on calls to boycott the seminar, given by some human rights organisations, he said these calls have had no effect. The seminar is to review how the Sri Lankan approach transcended beyond the traditional approach and succeeded in defeating the LTTE with learning from years of fighting an insurgency. -The Hindu