Navy Commander visiting Pakistan:

Boosting Naval ties

Navy Commander Vice Admiral D W A S Dissanayake along with a delegation of four members is on an official visit to Pakistan from June 11 - 16 undertaken on the invitation extended by Pakistan Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila.

Vice Admiral D W A S Dissanayake	Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila

He will visit various Naval establishments in Karachi including the ship and small crafts manufacturing factories, Naval War College at Lahore and the equipment manufacturing industries at Taxila.

A formal reception will also be held in his honour at the Naval Headquarters in Islamabad.

Vice Admiral D W A S Dissanayake will hold talks with his counterpart in Islamabad for future collaboration. He will also call on Defence Minister and Chairman JCSC General Khalid Shameem Wynne.

The visit of the Navy Commander is of immense importance especially after the war in Sri Lanka and there is a requirement to build on relations of strategic value between the two friendly countries in the new and developing regional environment.

Vice Admiral D. W. A. S. Dissanayake was promoted to the 3-star rank of Vice Admiral and was appointed as the New Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy on January 15, 2011 by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Since independence, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have consistently maintained close, cordial and mutually supportive relations especially in the field of defence. Both nations have assisted each other during testing times in their histories.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have comprehensive and mutually beneficial training collaboration for Army, Navy and Air Force.