Sunday Times 2
Major General Shavendra off to National Defence College in New Delhi
View(s):NEW YORK — Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, will leave New York next week to follow a course at the prestigious National Defence College in New Delhi.
Major General Shavendra Silva receives a plaque from Senaka Seneviratne at the farewell dinner
The 47-week course in National Security and Strategic Studies is offered every year to only about 25 senior military officers and defence officials from around the world, including the US, UK, France, Canada Germany, Australia and Sri Lanka.
The College is described as the India’s highest seat of learning for military and strategic studies.
Ambassador Silva, who will begin classes in the first week of January, was given a rousing farewell last week by over 250 Sri Lankan expatriates at a banquet in New York.
The event was hosted by Friends of Sri Lanka, an organisation of expatriates based in New Jersey.
Paying tribute to the Major General, Vajira Gunawardana, one of the organisers of the event, said almost 70 years ago, the great American General, Dwight Eisenhower, freed the world of Nazi terrorism.
“Five years ago, our own Major General Shavendra Silva led the final battle to completely eliminate the scourge of ruthless Tiger terrorism from Sri Lanka. In our book, you are the Eisenhower of Sri Lanka,” he said commanding a standing ovation
Another speaker Dr Wije Kottachchi described the Major General as a bridge builder.Since he took over as Deputy Permanent Representative back in 2010, the Major General has reached out to Sri Lankans of all political stripes — and all religious and ethnic groups, he added.
The others who paid tribute to Major General Silva included Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative Dr Palitha Kohona, the Mayor of Franklin Township Dr Brian Levine, Retired Captain Guy Wyser Pratte and TV personality Rita Cosby.