A symposium on ‘Unity of Effort: Building Military-Civil Partnership to Counter Violent Extremism’ was held recently at the Organization of Professional Association of Sri Lanka (OPA) office, Colombo 7.
The symposium, organized jointly by the Association of Retired Flag Rank Officers (ARFRO) and the Organization of Professional Association of Sri Lanka (OPA), was attended by a large gathering of both serving and retired tri-service officers and professionals.
Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, delivered the keynote address on the occasion. “This is your Army, it is not a Sinhala Army, but it is the Sri Lankan Army. As professionals, it is your responsibility also to sustain the hard-earned peace,” he said.
The Army Commander was presented with a special memento by ARFRO President Rear Admiral (Rtd) H.S. Rathnakeerthi.
Lieutenant General Senanayake also presented a plaque to OPA President A.P Lalith Wijethunga.
The OPA is the apex body of professional associations in Sri Lanka, consisting of 47 associations with a total individual membership of over 60,000 professionals in Sri Lanka, representing over 30 professions such as medicine, engineering, accountancy, architecture, law, management, banking, town planning computer science, human resource management, etc., which was founded in 1975 under the aegis of the Commonwealth Foundation.