Srilal Weerasooriya

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General Srilal Weerasooriya RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
Born	(1943-12-22) 22 December 1943 (age 78)
Allegiance	Sri Lanka
Service/branch	Sri Lanka Army
Years of service	1963 - 2000
Rank	General
Unit	Sri Lanka Artillery
Commands held	Commander of the Sri Lankan Army
Awards	Rana Wickrama Padakkama Rana Sura Padakkama Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya Uttama Seva Padakkama Sitara-e-Pakistan
Alma mater	S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia Pakistan Military Academy
Spouse(s)	Dilhani Weerasooriya
Other work	Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan

General Chandrika Srilal Weerasooriya, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a Sri Lankan General. He was the 15th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and a former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Weerasooriya was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. He is Arnolis Weerasooriya's great-grand nephew and a member of the Weerasooriya family of Dodanduwa and Hikkaduwa.^[2][3]

Military career[]

He joined the Ceylon Army in 1963 as a Cadet officer and attended the Pakistan Military Academy. On his return to Ceylon in 1965, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery. He later qualified as an Instructor Gunnery (IG). Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he went on to serve as the commanding officer, 4th Field Artillery Regiment from March 1985 to March 1987.^[4]

He was the Brigade Commander of the Artillery Brigade from November 1991 to December 1993. He attended the National Defence College, India and was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1994, serving as Commander, Task Force 1 from December 1994 to September 1995.^[5] He served as Colonel Commandant, Sri Lankan Artillery from 1997 to 1998. Having served in many commands and operations in the Sri Lanka Army, including Operation Leap Forward, Director of Operations and Chief of Staff of the Army, he was appointed on 16 December 1998 as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army with the rank of Lieutenant General and held the position until his retirement on 24 August 2000 following the Second Battle of Elephant Pass. He was promoted to the rank of General on retirement and was succeeded by L. P. Balagalle.^{[6][7] [8][9]}

Awards and decorations[]

He has received some of the highest awards in the Sri Lankan armed forces, which includes the Rana Wickrama Padakkama, Uttama Seva Padakkama and the Rana Sura Padakkama. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan) by the Government of Pakistan. ^{[10] [11][12]}

Later life[]

In 2000 he was appointed as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan and served in this capacity for six years. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan the highest of civil decoration given by the Government of Pakistan in 2011.^[13] Since his return to Sri Lanka he has served as an independent non-executive director of Ceylinco Life PLC since 2010.

References[]