'Colombo Defence Seminar 2017' kicks off today

The annual 'Colombo Defence Seminar 2017' commenced today at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The two day (28th & 29th August) conference is expected be attended by 800 participants including over 91 foreign military and civil scholars. The Sri Lanka Army organized 'Colombo Defence Seminar 2017' will see participants deliberate issues under the theme, 'Countering Violent Extremism: Global Trends'.

Already 22 Defence Attachés based in India, 10 Defence Attachés in Colombo and 42 foreign military delegates from foreign countries have signed up for participation, states Army media further. Since its inception in 2011, the island nation's annual international defence forum has grown into an internationally accepted round-table for interaction on matters pertaining to national, regional and international security. The last conclave in September (01st & 02nd) 2016 saw representatives from more than 70 countries converge in Colombo to discuss issues under the theme, 'Soft Power and Its Influence on Global Issues'.

This year the Colombo Defence Seminar 2017 will see sessions being held on sub themes including, 'Violent Extremism', 'Countering Violent Extremism', 'The Role of Armed Forces in Countering Violent Extremism', and 'Mechanism to Counter Violent Extremism' supplemented with topical subjects such as 'Challenges and Dilemmas, National Perspectives - East Asia and West Asia', 'Role of Regional Organizations', 'Impact of Global Governance', 'Legal Implications', 'Intelligence Cyber Challenges and Strategies', 'Specific Tasks of Armed Forces and Civil-Military Relations', 'UN Strategies', 'Education Strategies in Internal Security', 'Public Diplomacy in Countering Violent Extremism', 'Balancing Hard Power and Soft Power', 'Role of Military in Global Governance', 'Empowering Communities to Counter Violent Extremism' and 'Use of Fourth Generation Warfare to Counter Violent Extremism', etc, spread out during the two day period.