Sri Lanka has asked NATO to deepen defence cooperation, with Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd) raising military modernisation, advanced technology, cyber capabilities and disaster response in talks with the alliance’s most senior military officer.
Thuyacontha held a bilateral discussion with Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, on 31 August on the sidelines of the Chiefs of Defence Conference in Victoria, Canada, the Ministry of Defence said. The Defence Secretary is in Canada on an official visit to attend the conference.
What Sri Lanka asked for
According to the ministry statement, reported by Ada Derana, Thuyacontha set out Sri Lanka’s requirements across several areas: the modernisation and revamping of military hardware, the acquisition of advanced technologies, and the strengthening of cyber capabilities and surveillance platforms.
The two sides also discussed technical cooperation, including exchanges of military personnel, expanded military education and training programmes, and wider sharing of expertise and information.
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief was identified as a further area for cooperation. The ministry said discussions covered the exchange of expertise and the effective use of unmanned aerial vehicles in disaster response operations — a capability with immediate domestic relevance given the flood and landslide emergencies of recent months.
Thuyacontha invited NATO to strengthen its engagement with Sri Lanka, emphasising sustained dialogue, information sharing and practical cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
Context
Sri Lanka is not a NATO member or a formal partner of the alliance, and neither the ministry statement nor Ada Derana described any agreement, framework or timeline arising from the meeting. The account records what Sri Lanka requested rather than any NATO commitment in response; no NATO statement on the discussion was reported.
The meeting continues a run of defence engagements by Thuyacontha across several blocs. He has held bilateral defence talks in Moscow with Russian officials and addressed the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace at a Moscow security conference, and represented Sri Lanka at the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs’ Meeting in New Delhi in July.
