Shavendra takes command as Acting CDS

• Pledges to guide armed forces towards achieving national security objectives
• Says military must modernise and work in synergy to meet future threats

Army Commander Lt. Gen Shavendra Silva took command as the new Acting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) yesterday.

Lt. Gen Silva became Sri Lanka’s seventh CDS at a ceremony held at the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS) premises at BMICH.

Addressing the gathering, Lt. Gen Silva thanked President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for appointing him to the post of Acting CDS while being the incumbent Commander of the Army. He stressed that he would guide the armed forces and the Civil Defence Service to achieve national security, “which is what is expected from the Armed Forces by the Commander-in-Chief”.

“I will do my part to modernise the armed forces to meet any current or future threats,” he said.

Many countries have moved towards joint military operations and Sri Lanka needs to keep with the international trend, he added.