Several countries including Canada and the US were absent from the Defence Seminar held in Colombo last week. Military sources told The Sunday Morning that defence delegations and representatives from most countries were invited for the two-day seminar. However, only 42 countries had attended the seminar as opposed to 87 countries in 2018, sources added. Among the countries that did not attend or declined the invitation are the US, Canada, and several countries of the European Union (EU). Military sources said that their reasons for not attending the seminar were not known, but most of these countries had attended the seminar last year. When contacted, a spokesperson at the US Embassy in Colombo confirmed that the US was invited for the seminar and that it did not attend. “We were invited, but we had other obligations,” the US Embassy spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Canadian High Commission also confirmed that Canada did not attend the seminar. However, both the US and Canada were among the countries that raised concerns over the appointment of Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as the new Army Commander. The concerns were linked to alleged human rights allegations over the war – allegations the Army has already rejected. However, Military Spokesman Brigadier Sumith Atapattu told The Sunday Morning that there was no connection between the appointment of the new Army Commander and the countries not attending the seminar. When asked whether the reduction in participation was because of the Easter attacks, he said no exact reason had been mentioned but that it may have been a reason. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces President Maithripala Sirisena was the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony.