No need to deploy military from other countries to fight Covid-19 in Sri Lanka - Defence Secretary

Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said there was no necessity to seek assistance from other countries to deploy their military to contain the spread of coronavirus in Sri Lanka.

He said Sri Lankan Tri-Forces and the Police had already proved their capabilities in containing the spread of coronavirus.

“Our military has already shown their expertise and professionalism in handling the emergency situation created under coronavirus threat,” he said.

The Defence Secretary said Sri Lanka would set an example to other countries, which were battling with coronavirus, on how a country could use its intelligence agencies with the military and health authorities effectively to control the spread of the highly infectious virus.

“Sri Lanka’s intelligence agencies have been used to trace people who are closely associated with coronavirus positive patients and also their whereabouts to direct them to the 14-days quarantine process,” he said.

Referring to the recent news reports which claim that the Indian Army would be deployed in Sri Lanka to support the country’s effort to control the spread coronavirus, the Defence Secretary said that no such dialogue had been taken place between the two nations.
 
Indian media, quoting official sources, had reported today that India is readying separate rapid response teams for dispatching to friendly neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the spirit of its commitment to help them deal with the coronavirus pandemic.