The Brazilian Army has offered training slots to Sri Lankan armed forces at Brazilian National War College, High Studies Schools of the Brazilian Armed Forces, Brazilian Peacekeeping Operations Centre and the Jungle Warfare Instruction Centre. 

 

The army headquarters said that the Sri Lanka Army is to reciprocate with offers of training to officers of the Brazilian Army in different Army training centers. 

 

Offer of such training slots to Sri Lankan Armed Forces, followed soon on the heels of bilateral discussions Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary Defence and Urban Development, has had with Brazil’s Minister of Defence, Celso Amorim when the former, together with Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, Commander of the Army, was in Brazil on an official tour during the third week of last month. 

 

Brazil’s Minister of Defence and the visiting Sri Lanka’s Secretary Defence unanimously agreed on the significance of enhanced military training for both Brazilian and Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the exchange of experiences in warfare, maritime traffic control, joint military exercises in Indian and Atlantic ocean regions. 

 

General Enzo Martins Peri, Commander of the Brazilian Army, keen on sharing Sri Lankan experiences in humanitarian operations, assured the Sri Lankan Army of training slots in the Brazilian Peacekeeping Operations Centre (CCOPAB) and Jungle Warfare Instruction Centre (CIGS), in addition to allocations that were offered in the Brazilian National War College and High Studies Schools of the Brazilian Armed Forces during those formal discussions.

 

Brazilian Navy Commander, Fleet-Admiral Julio Saores de Moura Neto, and Brazilian Air Force Commander, Lieutenant Brigadier Juniti Saito, requested Sri Lanka Navy personnel and Air Force Commander to visit Brazil in order to identify possible exchange programmes and other possibilities of cooperation in both sectors. 

 

In a similar vein, Brazilian Minister of Defence, Mr Celso Amorim invited Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa to attend the 2015 Defence Products Exhibition, scheduled in Rio de Janeiro. 

 

Brazilian Chief of Joint Staff, General Jose Carlos de Nardi, Brazilian Navy Commander, Fleet-Admiral Julio Saores de Moura Neto and Brazilian Air Force Commander, Lieutenant Brigadier Juniti Saito and several other high ranking officers were associated with the meeting.