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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe praised the role of the navy at a ceremony on Sunday, as he looked to expand the military’s role to “protecting sea routes” across the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lanka’s official navy website reported the prime minister as highlighting “the importance of safeguarding the sea area from Maldives through Pacific Ocean up to the Strait of Malacca and Singapore”.
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“The Sri Lanka Navy will have to play a role in protecting the sea routes across the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the sea off Banda Aceh and the Strait of Malacca,” he was quoted as saying. “We will have to prepare for that.”
Speaking at a commissioning parade in Trincomalee, situated in the Tamil North-East, Mr Wickremesinghe also praised the navy and called on the newly commissioned officers to “dedicate their service to the betterment of the Navy and motherland”.
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ColomboPage reported Mr Wickremesinghe as saying the navy "takes pride in safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of country".
The prime minister also “extended his great debt of gratitude to the parents and loved ones of the commissioned officers for giving them the encouragement to serve the motherland”.
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"You officers who pass out today are lucky” he said. “You are not going to safeguard the Sri Lankan seas alone but the seas in the whole region.”