8 December 2016 07:05 am
Speaking during the committee stage debate on the budget in Parliament, he said this was one of the steps the government intended taking in order to upgrade the Sri Lankan armed forces.
“Sri Lanka will acquire one offshore naval craft from India next year and another will be acquired by the year 2019,” he said.
He added that the Air Force would acquire multi combatant jets.
The State Minister said the intention of the government was to strengthen the armed forces while trying to being about reconciliation between the communities. “The government will always give top priority to national security,” he said.
He said this was the reason why a sum of Rs.231 billion was allocated for defence though there was no war on. “President Maithripala Sirisena has always instructed us to give top priority to the country’s security,” he said. (Yohan Perera)