Ministry of Defence - Sri Lanka

DSCSC Hosts South Asia International Conference of Commandants - 2023

February 18, 2023

The second ‘South Asia International Conference of Commandants’ got underway during 14-15 February at the Defence Services Command and Staff College at Sapugaskanda (DSCSC) in collaboration with the Joint Forces Command and Staff College of the United Kingdom. The topics on varied disciplines offered a distinctive glimpse into the current contexts and future of Professional Military Education (PME).

The main objective of the symposium was meant to exchange and share views on contemporary aspects of professional military education and promotion of cooperation in matters related to mutual interest. The Commandants of participating countries and few intellectuals from the UK exchanged their perspectives on 'Delivering Education in the 21st Century,' 'Future Classrooms and Future Education', 'Digitalization, Educating Generation Z', 'Resilience, Economic Warfare, Research Hub and DARE update', 'Military Ethics in PME', etc

The welcome remarks were made by the Commandant of the DSCSC, Major General Lasantha Rodrigo and the Keynote Speech was delivered by Mr. Lalith Weeratunga on “Why Professional Military Education is Important, an Overview of PME with regional Perspective”. In his speech Mr. Lalith Weeratunga said:

“Inspirational leaders of today lead not by the virtue of their position but by inspiring their employees to challenge themselves for a greater cause – a vision. Visionary companies paid particular attention to cultivating excellent cultures and adhering to an ideology that transcends the pursuit of profits. As a leader, you may have an extraordinary vision for the employees you lead. However, if you are unable to articulate this vision effectively, you will not be able to inspire the people who work for you. This will also help young officers become easily integrated into any situation. Leaders today are expected to thrive in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. Stakeholder relationships and processes within and around organizations have become increasingly dynamic and unpredictable. In order to thrive in the VUCA world, the armed services personnel must be consistently aware of the changing trends around them and plan their strategies early, to remain flexible and agile”, he pointed out.

Major General Md Faizur Rahman, Major General Amer Ahsan Nawaz (Virtual participation), Major General Lasantha Rodrigo, Major General Andrew Roe, and Brigadier General Waheed Wais, representing the staff colleges of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, and the Maldives respectively partook in the conference adding variety.

The exchange of plaques and souvenirs at the end of the two-day session of the South Asia International Conference of Commandants drew to a close, strengthening the bonds for mutual cooperation in the field of Professional Military Education (PME) among South Asian military institutions.

Courtesy - www.army.lk