Buttala OCDC Seminar Draws to a Close

The Buttala Officer Career Development Centre’s (OCDC) annual seminar, themed on ‘Dynamics of Conflicts; Analysis within Regional and Global Context’ at Buttala drew to a close on Friday (1).

The Session-III on the final day commenced with introductory remarks of former Ambassador H.M.G.S Palihakkara of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. The first speech on ‘The Indian Ocean Region; A crucial theatre for strategic power play in Asia’ was delivered by Dr Maneesha Pasqual of the University of Colombo. Moreover Commodore U.V.M.P Perera made his contribution to the sessions on ‘Rising demand for maritime security’.

The Chairman for the fourth session was Admiral (Dr) J.S.K Colombage.

As the first speaker of the Session-IV Ms Bhagya Senarathne of the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) spoke on ‘The Importance of Sri Lanka in the strategic competition in the Indian Ocean Region’. The second speaker, Dr Chaminda Padmakumara of the University of Colombo educated the participants on the topic ‘Cooperation instead of confrontation and pursue partnerships rather than alliances’.

The chairperson for the session five was Brigadier W.P.A.K Thilakarathna. After his introductory speech for the Session-V Ms Menik Wakkumbura delivered a speech on ‘Non Traditional Security Challenges in South Asia’. Afterwards Ms Niruka Sanjeewani from the KDU spoke on ‘Regional integration in South & South East Asia’.

All sessions followed interactive question & answer sessions under the guidance of panelists.