Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that the United States should open up training opportunities to the Sri Lankan military.

“We have senior officers in command level, who could be trained in these countries,” he added while speaking at an event at the Ministry of Defence.

He made these comments at the handing over of the report complied by a Board of Inquiry appointed by Amy Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuirya in response to observations and recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) with regards to the Army.

The Defence Secretary was responding to a question by a journalist with regard to a recent comment made by him that the only thing that the US could withhold from Sri Lanka was providing military training.

“When compared with India, Pakistan and China, they are the main countries which give training to us,” he said.

He said that India offered 2800 military courses, Pakistan with more than 1000 while China offered a lot were increasing it. (Supun Dias, Video by Darshana Sanjeewa)