Lieutenant General Nilantha Premaratne, the newly appointed 26th Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, called on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday afternoon in his first official meeting with the head of state since assuming duties.
Following the long-standing convention for a newly appointed service commander, Premaratne and the President exchanged commemorative mementoes. The President extended his felicitations on the appointment, the President’s Media Division said.
Premaratne also paid a courtesy call the same day on Deputy Minister of Defence Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd) at his office in Colombo, the Daily Mirror reported. The Deputy Minister congratulated him on assuming office, and the two exchanged views on matters of mutual interest in what the newspaper described as a cordial meeting.
A rapid rise
Premaratne was appointed Commander of the Sri Lanka Army on July 31 by President Dissanayake, who holds the defence portfolio, succeeding Lieutenant General Lasantha Rodrigo as he completed his tenure as the 25th Commander.
The promotion came roughly two months after Premaratne moved into the army’s second-highest post: he was appointed Chief of Staff in late May, then holding the rank of Major General. Rodrigo spent the final week of July on farewell calls on the Deputy Minister of Defence and the Defence Secretary before stepping down.
A command structure in transition
The handover comes during a broader reshaping of the defence establishment. A bill to repeal the Chief of Defence Staff Act was gazetted in May, and senior appointments across the services have turned over through the year.
The army has also been drawn into civilian tasks in recent weeks, taking part in rescue and relief work in the hill country during the current spell of severe weather and continuing a demining programme involving some 500 personnel.
Sources: Ada Derana, Daily Mirror.
