The Ministry of Defence ( Sinhala: රාජ්‍ය ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය ''Rājya ārakshaka amāthyanshaya''; Tamil: பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சகம்) is the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

of the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...

responsible for implementation of government defence policy and acts as the overall headquarters of the

Sri Lankan Armed Forces The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Th ...

. The Ministry of Defence states that its principal objectives are the formulation, co-ordination and the execution of policies in relation to the

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

. With the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, the MOD does not foresee any short-term conventional military threat, the main threat to Sri Lanka having been the now-defunct organization, the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

and

Islamic Terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities f ...

. The Ministry of Defence also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement. The National Security Council of Sri Lanka is the executive body of the Sri Lankan government that is charged with the maintenance of national security with authority to direct the

Sri Lankan military The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lank ...

and Police. The Minister of Defence and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff are permanent members of the National Security Council.

History

With Ceylon gaining independence in 1948, the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was formed to administer the country's armed forces and formulate defence and

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

. The Prime Minister was also the Minister of Defence and External Affairs, and was supported by a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs who was a member of Parliament. In 1977, J.R Jayawardena's government adapted two separate ministries, forming the Ministry of Defence and the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

were formed. Since then many presidents retained the portfolio of Minister of Defence under him/her self, except for a few brief periods. In 1999 the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

was established removing the direct control the military from the deputy Minister of Defence. In 2011, the ministry was renamed Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.

Funding

Senior officials

* Minister of Defence – Gotabhaya Rajapaksa *

State Minister Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

of Defence - Chamal Rajapaksa *

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

– General Kamal Gunaratne * Chief of the Defence Staff – General

Shavendra Silva General (Sri Lanka), General Shavendra Silva, ( si, ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා, ta, ஷவேந்திர சில்வா) is a Sri Lanka Army four star general who is the current Chief of the Defence Staff (Sri Lanka ...

Chief of National Intelligence The Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) is the Sri Lankan government official in-charge of directing and overseeing the intelligence agencies in Sri Lanka. Created in 2006, reporting to the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, CNI is a ...

Departments that come under the Ministry of Defence

* Sri Lanka Army * Sri Lanka Navy *

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

* State Intelligence Service * Sri Lanka Coast Guard * General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University * Defence Services Command and Staff College * National Cadet Corps * Department of Immigration & Emigration * Department of Registration of Persons * Department of Civil Defence (formerly the Home Guard Service) * The National Dangerous Drugs Control Board * Ranaviru Seva Authority (Veteran's Welfare Authority) * Centre for Research and Development

Ministers attached to the Ministry of Defence

Since the establishment of the MoD in 1978 the portfolio of Minister of Defence was held by the

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

, except for a few brief periods . However a minister oversaw activities of the MoD and the armed forces. Incomplete

Minister of Defence

* Tilak Marapana - Minister of Defence

Minister of State for Defence

* Lalith Athulathmudali - Minister of National Security * General Ranjan Wijeratne - Minister of State for Defence * D.B Wijetunga - Minister of State for Defence *

Ruwan Wijewardene Dinendra Ruwan Wijewardene ( Sinhala:දිනෙන්ද්‍ර රුවන් විජෙවර්ධන) (born 4 August 1975) (known as ''Ruwan Wijewardene'') is a Sri Lankan politician and currently the Senior advisor to president (Ra ...

- State Minister of Defence

Deputy Minister of Defence

* Mrvyn Kularatne - Deputy Minister of Defence *

T.B. Werapitiya Tikiri Banda 'T. B.' Werapitiya (16 July 1924 – 18 May 1996) was a Sri Lankan police officer and a politician. He was the former Minister of Internal Security. Werapitiya was born on 16 July 1924 the youngest of three sons to S. B. Werap ...

(former

DIG Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock (geology), rock on the surface of Earth. Di ...

) - Deputy Minister of Defence and Minister of Internal Security *

Anura Bastian Anura Bastian (born 30 July 1950) is a Sri Lankan politician. He was a former Deputy Minister of Defence and Member of Parliament (1978 - 1989). A favorite of J. R. Jayewardene, he succeeded his parliamentary seat when the latter became Presid ...

- Deputy Minister of Defence * General Anuruddha Ratwatte - Deputy Minister of Defence *

Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Ratnasiri Wickremanayake ( si, රත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායක, ta, ரத்னசிறி விக்கிரமநாயக்க; 5 May 1933 – 27 December 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Mi ...

- Deputy Minister of Defence

Secretaries

* Colonel

C. A. Dharmapala Colonel Candauda Arachchige Dharmapala, OBE, ED ( si, සී.ඒ. ධර්මපාල; 4 August 1907 – 6 July 1989) was Sri Lankan politician. He was a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industries, Housing and Social Services an ...

(1 Sep 1977 — 15 Aug 1983) * General Deshamanya

D. S. Attygalle General Deshamanya Don Sepala Attygalle, (14 October 1921 – 15 January 2001) was a Sri Lankan senior army officer, civil servant and diplomat. The longest serving Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977), he went on to serve as the Perm ...

(15 Aug 1983 — 16 Feb 1990) *General Cyril Ranatunga (16 Feb 1990 — 1 May 1993) *

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Walter Fernando (1 May 1993 — 6 Jun 1993) *General Hamilton Wanasinghe (6 Jun 1993 — 10 Feb 1995) *Chandananda de Silva (7 Dec 1995 — 5 Dec 2001) *

Austin Fernando Kalupage Austin Fernando is a Sri Lankan civil servant and the current Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India. He had previously served as Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka, Defence Secretary and Governor of the Eastern Province. Early l ...

(21 Dec 2001 — 3 Nov 2003) * Cyril Herath (17 Apr 2004 — 30 Nov 2004) * Major General

Asoka Jayawardena Major General Deshamanya Asoka Kanthilal Jayawardena, Rana Wickrama Padakkama, RWP, Rana Sura Padakkama, RSP, Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya, VSV, Uttama Seva Padakkama, USP, was Sri Lankan senior army officer and politician. He was the former Provin ...

(1 Dec 2004 — 25 Nov 2005) *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (25 Nov 2005 — 9 Jan 2015) *

B. M. U. D. Basnayake B. M. U. D. Basnayake was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was the Defence Secretary, prior to which he served as Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civ ...

(11 Jan 2015 — 8 Sep 2015) *Karunasena Hettiarachchi (9 Sep 2015 — 5 Jul 2017) *

Kapila Waidyaratne Kapila ( sa, कपिल), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a sage in Hindu tradition. According to Bhagavata Purana, he is the son of the sage Kardama and Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhuva Manu. Kardama had nine daughters, who wer ...

(4 Jul 2017 — 30 October 2018) *

Hemasiri Fernando Hemasiri Fernando (born 12 October 1949) is the former permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence and chief of staff of the president, chairman Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. Early childhood Hemasiri was educated at Nalanda College, Co ...

(30 October 2018 - 25 April 2019) *General Shantha Kottegoda (28 April 2019 — 18 November 2019) *General Kamal Gunaratne (18 November 2019 – Incumbent)

References

External links

Government of Sri Lanka

Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Army

Sri Lanka Navy

Sri Lanka Air Force

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Defence (Sri Lanka) Defence agencies of Sri Lanka Defence Military of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Ministries established in 1948