SLAF Chief attends US Air Force meet while Gota claims not taking sides in great power rivalry

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 December 2019, 22:59 GMT]
The Commander of the SL Air Force (SLAF) Air Marshal Dambure Liyanage Sumangala Dias has taken part in the Pacific Air Chiefs Symposium (PACS 19) at the invitation of Commander of the United States Air Force Pacific Command Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. The participation has taken place while his Commander-in-Chief, SL President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a US citizen was waging propaganda to the effect that the Indian Ocean must be kept as “a zone of peace free of any conflict”. The SLAF Commander was attending a series of panel discussions on regional security, domain awareness, multi-domain operation, interoperability and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, according to the news reports from the US Air Force.



Air Force commanders of at least eighteen countries attended the 11th Pacific Air Chiefs Symposium held between December 03 and 06 under the theme “A Collaborative Approach to Regional Security”.

The event, jointly hosted by US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen David Goldfein and Gen C.Q. Brown Jr, the US commander of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, a US State located in the Pacific Ocean Region.

“The premise of the symposium is a common belief among our allies and partners that collaboration is required to meet the regional challenges that have global effects,” US PACAF Commander Brown was quoted as saying by the US Air Force News Service (AFNS).

“From cooperation to conflict, we are stronger together. Uniting our shared values, interests and security. We stand together to preserve peace and stability in the region,” he further said.

This year’s event was by far the most heavily represented, indicating several things according to the US PACAF Commander.



Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, the Republic of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam took part in the PACS19 symposium. Attendance also included fifteen US air attachés, the AFNS report said adding that the four-day conference featured more than 50 bilateral engagements and three multilateral dialogues, five multinational panel discussions and several social engagements.

Sumangala Dias, who joined the SLAF in 1984 was appointed as the 17th Commander of the SLFA in May 2019. Dias was instrumental in synchronizing bombarding massacres on Eezham Tamils during the genocidal war the ground operations of the 57, 58 and 59 divisions of the SL Army. He was serving as the Senior Air Coordinator of the genocidal war in 2009.



External Links:

Pacific Airforce Public Affairs:

Symposium hosts unprecedented number of air chiefs from across the Indo-Pacific

Chronology: