The commissioning of Flying Officers ADPL Gunarathne and RT Weerawardana as first ever women pilots of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) on November 16 is a matter of great pride and happiness notably for Sri Lanka and also for India, The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka in a press release said.
The two officers were trained in the 204th Pilot Course of the Indian Air Force Academy at Hyderabad from July 2018 to June 2019.
Training has been one of the strongest pillars of bilateral defence cooperation between India and Sri Lanka. More than half of military training slots in India for foreign countries are provided to Sri Lanka. Annually, over 1,200 personnel from Sri Lankan Armed Forces undergo training in India. Of these, nearly 250 are from the Sri Lanka Air Force. The joint training inculcates camaraderie and prepares the bedrock for cooperation between India and Sri Lanka to safeguard wo countries’ common security interests and contribute to regional peace and security, it stated.
