07FOCUS SRI LANKA

‘Galle Dialogue 2012’ Maritime Conference: ‘Strategic Maritime Cooperation and

partnerships to face the future with confidence’Secretary Defence delivers keynote address

The ‘Galle Dialogue 2012’ organized by the Sri Lanka Navy under the patronage of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Devel-opment began this morning (13th Decem-ber 2012) at the Light House Hotel in the southern port city of Galle.

Hon. Minister of External Affairs Prof. G L Peiris graced the event as the chief guest. The guest of honour, Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the keynote address. The welcome remarks were made by the Com-mander of the Navy Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage.

Held for the third consecutive time ‘Galle Dialogue 2012’ brings together representa-tives from 29 countries including Sri Lanka

to discuss matters on a vide range of mari-time related issues.

Held under the theme “Strategic Maritime Cooperation and partnerships to face the future with confidence” the international conclave will see a number of speeches, presentations and panel discussions by subject related experts, intellectuals, dip-lomats and naval representatives from around the world.The city of Galle provides the perfect setting for this two day international maritime con-ference. With a rich heritage and long mari-time history, Sri Lanka rightly deserves due recognition for conducting such an event of international importance. The importance of the ‘Galle Dialogue’ is evident by the in-creasing number of participating countries

from the inaugural event in 2010, where only 10 nations were represented to the impressive rise this year. Last year 19 coun-tries had sent in their delegations.

Making the keynote address the Secretary Defence thanked all those present for their participation. He said that Strategic cooper-ation and partnership is essential to achieve lasting security, stability and success in the Indian Ocean region.

Stressing the importance of the Indian Ocean he said that despite adverse global economic conditions, the volume of world’s containerized cargo that crosses the Indian Ocean has only increased over time and there is keen interest among the nations in assuring the safety and security of it.

SRI LANKA EMBASSY TOGETHER WITH SRI LANKAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY HONOR THE MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF CONNECTICUT SCHOOL TRAGEDY IN US

Sri Lanka Embassy on Friday (December 14) dedicated its annual Christmas Day Cel-ebration to a prayer service in honoring the memory of the victims of the tragic shooting incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya with the Embassy staff decided to forego the festivities of the evening due to the mass shooting incident, which resulted in the deaths of 20 elementary school children and 7 adults. “It is a very sad day for the United States and all peace loving peo-ple in the world.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the fami-lies of the tragedy in Newtown, and in this time of mourning we have decided to convert this event to a prayer session”, Ambassador Wickramasuriya informed the Sri Lankan Americans and US nationals gathered at the Embassy.