The Sri Lankan navy boasted of its participation in the world’s largest multinational maritime exercise, led and organised by the United States.

The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2022 was hosted by the US Pacific Fleet in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

Sri Lankan troops were part of the 25,000 personnel from across 26 countries to take part in the exercise, with 50 members including both officers and sailors joining.

The Royal Australian Air Force flew the Sri Lankan soldiers from Colombo to Townsville first, before joining HMAS Canberra of Royal Australian Navy to travel to RIMPAC. Whilst in Australia, the two militaries reportedly carried “a week-long field training programme… where they honed their skills in small arm movement and firing, military operation in urban terrain, field formation and signal”.

At RIMPAC 2022, Sri Lankan soldiers got to have “a firsthand experience of modern and influential equipment used by counterparts across from the globe,” according to the navy.

Sri Lankan troops also took part in “gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as amphibious, counter-piracy, mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, replenishment at sea and diving & salvage operations”.

Sri Lankan soldiers were also one of nine militaries, alongside Australia, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Tonga and the US, to take part in an amphibious assault exercise.

 “By coming together as capable, adaptive partners, and in scale that we are, we are making a statement about our commitment to work together, to foster and sustain those relationships that are critical to ensuring safety of sea lanes and security of world’s interconnected oceans,” said RIMPAC 2022 Combined Task Force (CTF) Commander and US Navy vice-admiral Michael Boyle.

The Sri Lankan navy has a long chequered human rights record, from its participation in a 2009 military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils to more recent assaults on Tamil civilians and journalists.

In their latest annual human rights report, the US State Department acknowledged that serious human rights abuses continued to afflict Sri Lanka including “unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; politically motivated reprisals against individuals in other countries”.

Despite these concerns, Sri Lanka continues to maintain cordial ties with the US, particularly with its military.

When questioned on US training for Sri Lankan soldiers last year, the US Embassy in Colombo said “the United States manages its security relationship with the Government of Sri Lanka in the context of our concern for human rights and the rule of law,”, citing the Leahy amendment, which prohibits the state from providing security assistance or training “to a security force unit or individual when we have credible information that the unit or person has committed gross violations of human rights until the host nation government takes effective steps to bring those responsible to justice”.  

“This is a serious obligation, and we fully apply the Leahy law when providing security assistance, including the training of individuals,” the US continued.