The President’s Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor Sagala Ratnayaka has informed US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu that steps will be taken to set up a local research team for surveillance in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.
Ratnayaka said that Sri Lanka wouldn’t need research teams from other countries if it has its own group of experts. During a meeting in Colombo last week, he also called upon the US Assistant Secretary of State to help obtain facilities to set up the research team.
He said that after establishing a local research team, foreign ships would not be needed to enter the island’s territorial waters for inspections and that the data can be provided via the Sri Lankan research team. He said that countries such as Japan and Australia will also provide assistance for this work and added that a local team could provide the data obtained in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters when requested by foreign nations.
Ratnayaka also said that a review is currently being conducted to modernise Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces.
