Sri Lanka must cultivate a new security mindset to face future threats, President and Minister of Defence Ranil Wickremesinghe told members of the armed forces at the Anuradhapura Air Force Base yesterday (1).

Addressing a gathering of senior officers and other ranks of the three armed forces and Police, Wickremesinghe stressed that in line with the State sector reforms enacted by his Government, the armed forces and Police must also be modernised to face future threats.

“We have to develop a new security awareness. Our security policies and strategies cannot be grounded in what we faced in the past. We must be ready to face what will become threats in the future. We must get ready to do so while there is growing great power rivalry in the Indian Ocean region. We see the effect of great power rivalry in the Pacific region. We as Sri Lankans don’t want that here. But as we are at the centre of the Indian Ocean, we must prepare our security policies and strategies with such challenges also in mind,” Wickremesinghe said.

He said that to face future threats, the military posture of Sri Lanka must evolve from its land forces-heavy nature to a more agile and technologically capable one with a focus on maritime security. 

“The new military will not look like what we have seen in the past; as such, the military must evolve. We are facing the age of drone warfare and artificial intelligence being weaponised, so many changes will come,” he stressed.

President Wickremesinghe also stressed that a far worse threat than terrorism, the drug menace, needed to be addressed effectively, which would need a more modernised Police force.

He added that while the armed forces would see a downsizing during 2025-2028 due to natural attrition as service tenures of many who were recruited during the war would come to an end, no service personnel would be forced out of the services.

He thanked the armed forces and Police for their commitment to help bring about domestic stability, which aids in economic recovery.

He also called on members of the armed forces to help modernise the local agriculture and fisheries industry, adding that the Government would provide specialised training for those who leave the service and are interested in joining the workforce.