The Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces () is the ultimate commanding authority of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces, an executive role vested in 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 ...

Formation

As head of state, 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 ...

, is nominally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. 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 ...

, chaired by the president is the authority charged with formulating and executing defence policy for the nation. The highest level of military headquarters is the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, since 1978 except for a few rare occasions the president retained the portfolio defence, thus being the minister of defence. The ministry and the armed forces have been controlled by the during these periods by either a minister of state, deputy minister for defence, and of recently the

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 ...

to the Ministry of Defence. Prior to 1978 the prime minister held the portfolio of minister of defence and external affairs, and was supported by a parliamentary secretary for defence and external affairs. Responsibility for the management of the forces is Ministry of Defence, while the planning and execution of

combined operations In current military use, combined operations are operations conducted by forces of two or more allied nations acting together for the accomplishment of a common strategy, a strategic and operational and sometimes tactical cooperation. Interactio ...

is the responsibility of the Joint Operations Command (JOC). The JOC is headed by the chief of the defence staff who is the most senior officer in the Armed Forces and is an appointment that can be held by an

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 ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

, or general. The three services have their own respective professional chiefs: the commander of the Army, the commander of the Navy and the commander of the Air Force, who have much autonomy.

National security council

The National Security Council (NSC) of

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 ...

is the executive body of the Sri Lankan government that is charged with the maintenance of

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 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. This was established in 1999 during the HE D. B. Wijetunga's government.

Participants

* The Prime minister * Minister of Defence * Minister of Foreign Affairs * Minister of Finance *

Minister of Law and Order The Ministry of Public Security ( si, මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය; ta, பொதுமக்கள் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு) is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka ...

* Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Defence * Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs * Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Finance * Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Law and Order * Chief of the Defence Staff * Commander of the Army * Commander of the Navy * Commander of the Air Force * Inspector General of Police * SIS Director

References

External links

* * {{Sri Lankan security forces Military of Sri Lanka Government of Sri Lanka Defence agencies of Sri Lanka

Formation

National security council

Participants

See also

References

External links