India hails Sri Lanka Air Force for commissioning 2 women pilots; says it's a proud moment

India on Wednesday congratulated Sri Lanka's Air Force Officers- ADP Gunarathne and RT Weerawardana on becoming the first female officers commissioned as pilots. Taking to Twitter, High Commission of India in Colombo wrote that it is a very proud moment for Sri Lanka and women everywhere.

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Apart from becoming the first-ever female pilot of the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF), Weerwardhana has also become the first women in SLAF's history to command a parade at the commissioning parade on November 16 at the SLAF Academy in China Bay. The local media reports also informed that earlier, Pilot Weerwardhana was also awarded the Sword of Honour for her outstanding all-round performance. 

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India Congralutes Sri Lankan Air Force's first 2 women pilots

The commissioning of the first 2 women pilots in Sri Lanka's Air Force took place on November 16. While congratulating the commissioned pilots, the High Commission of India said that this is a matter of great pride not only for Sri Lanka, but for India as well as both the Air Force officers were trained in the 204th pilot course of the Indian Air Force Academy at Hyderabad from July 2018 to June 2019.

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Since many years, defence training has been one of the strongest pillars of bilateral defence cooperation between the two nations. Sri Lanka has been allotted more than half of the military training slots in India as compared to other foreign countries. 

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(With ANI inputs)