Sri Lanka kicks off summit with south, east Asian defence chiefs

Defense chiefs of the South and Southeast Asian Nations (SASEAN) will gather in Sri Lanka's capital city of Colombo on Thursday to discuss regional peace and security at a two-day conference, a statement said.
Sri Lanka initiated and hosts the inaugural South and Southeast Asian Nations (SASEAN) Defense Chiefs' Dialogue-2014 with the participation of Defense Chiefs in the region, which will wrap up on Saturday.
Defense chiefs of the eight SAARC and 10 ASEAN member nations will attend the event, and high ranking defense officials from China and Russia are also expected to participate as observers. "The SASEAN Dialogue has been initiated with the objective of promoting regional peace and stability through dialogue and cooperation in the spheres of Defense and security, promoting mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defense and security challenges, and contributing to the establishment of a SASEAN Security Community (SSC),"according to the Defence Ministry.
Sri Lanka over the past few years has stepped up dialogues with regional parties with yearly conferences that aim at improving security, especially after the forces were instrumental in ending a three decade war with the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.