Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who holds the defense portfolio, and Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi held a video teleconference to discuss the promotion of defence cooperation and exchanges between the two countries. 

During the approximately 30-minute video teleconference, both sides exchanged views on bilateral defense cooperation and welcomed the steady progress being made in a broad range of areas, including naval and aerial cooperation, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said.

In this context, both sides welcomed the bilateral exercise JA-LAN EX which was successfully conducted in September 2020, Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel’s first participation in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise hosted by Sri Lanka and the U.S., which took place last week, as well as the successful delivery of the online Air Rescue seminar in May 2021.

Both sides confirmed that they will share knowledge and lessons learned from infectious disease control measures taken by the defense authorities, ColomboPage reported.

Both sides concurred that Japan and Sri Lanka will further promote bilateral defense cooperation and exchanges based on the Memorandum on Defense Cooperation and Exchanges signed in 2019.

(SAM)