Pakistan’s National Defense University Delegation is visiting Sri Lanka for enhancing mutual cooperation

An 18 member delegation from the National Defense University (NDU) Pakistan is currently visiting Srilanka. The Delegation comprises of senior officers from Pakistan’s Armed Forces and Civil Services as well as Officers from Malaysia, Germany, Turkey and Nigeria who are undergoing National Security and War Course at NDU. The delegation is led by Brig Akhtar Jammil Rao. The Defense Advisor of Pakistan to Srilanka Colonel Sheryar Pervaiz Butt is conducting the visit for the delegation.

The 1 week visit which started on 16th April 2012 aims to gain overview of the defense, economic, domestic and foreign policies of Srilanka and to explore areas of mutual interest for enhancing mutual cooperation in various spheres.

During the visit the delegates interacted with a number of prominent personalities from the Srilankan Armed Forces and civil Institutions including Chief of Defense Staff, Acting Governor Central Bank, Commanders of Srilankan Air Force and Navy and Foreign Secretary.  The delegates will also be visiting Jaffna, Trincomalee and Central Province.

The Sri Lankan Chapter of Pakistan’s National Defense University Alumni Association was launched last month in Colombo during the visit of Pakistan’s Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, NI (M).

The National Defense University (NDU) is the premier institution of Pakistan, catering for the needs of senior leadership from various segments of the society, both domestic and international, in comprehending security issues and policy / strategy formulation. The NDU is a center of excellence in academic and research pursuits in diversified disciplines providing well thought out inputs on national security at strategic level. The University imparts higher education in policy and strategy formulation at various tiers with emphasis on national security and defense, and act as a national think tank.

‘The National Security and War Course’ at NDU covers essentials of both National Defense Course and Armed Forces War Courses. The courses, now being combined, bring rich experience of participants from divergent backgrounds to add value to the process of learning in addition to creating increased interaction and understanding. Friendly countries nominate officers from different services background including the civilian officers for the programme. The graduates of the course are assigned higher command and staff appointments dealing with national security as well as military and operational strategies in a joint, inter-governmental and international environment.

Several Senior Sri Lankan Officers from Armed forces have been attending courses at the National Defense University annually since 1993.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka being located in the South Asian region and being members of various regional and international bodies like UN, commonwealth, NAM and SAARC are mutually important for each others. The relationship between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is based on mutual trust and commonality of interest in maintaining regional peace, security and stability. Pakistan has always supported the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka.  Both countries have shared common perceptions on almost all regional and international issue and are working together on all these forums for shared values and interests.