For the Cadets who are being commissioned into the Sri Lanka Army today this occasion is a significant milestone in their young lives. Today they become officers in the Sri Lanka Army. It is a proud day for them, it is a proud day for their parents, it is a proud day for the Sri Lanka Army which has taught them and trained them.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the life of a soldier is not a life of ease. The Army is a calling, a vocation, a special way of life. It is a life of order, of discipline, of commitment to certain values, of loyalty to comrades and loyalty to the State. It is a life of personal danger.

I have been reminded this morning of the famous words of wisdom that have come down to us through the ages from the celebrated discourse between Arjuna and the Lord Krishna, as expounded in the Bhagavad Gita, on the eve of the great battle on the plain of Kurukshetra. Arjuna was the most illustrious warrior of his time. But on the eve of that battle he fell into deep despondency. He knew he would have to kill his friends and kinsmen on the other side. He contemplated fleeing the field of battle. He asked the Lord Krishna, his divine charioteer, for advice. The Lord Krishna said to him: "It is a noble duty for a warrior to fight a just war". Arjuna should not grieve. He should protect righteousness. His bounden duty was to maintain law and order. He should not waver; for there is nothing greater for a warrior than to answer the call of duty.

The Sri Lanka Army is no longer a ceremonial corps. It is a fighting Army, second to none in the world. The young men and women who are going forth from this parade ground today are the future leaders of our Army. To know how to lead one must know how to serve. Leaders in any walk of life must first be proven and trusted servants. The young Cadets who are being commissioned as officers today will soon have in their hands responsibility for the lives of others. They will be responsible for the training, the counselling and the well-being of the soldiers under their command. They will have to be role models to their men. For an Army to be successful the men must trust and respect their officers. The officers in turn must earn the trust and respect of their men. Trust and respect will not be earned unless the officers possess moral qualities that are admired by their men. An officer whose character is flawed or compromised will forfeit the trust and respect of his men. Without that trust and respect there cannot be loyalty among men who have to stand together in battle. They will fall apart in disarray.

An officer who robs or cheats the State robs or cheats the very men he is supposed to lead, for his men are citizens, like all civilians, who wish to see our Armed Forces led by honest men.

We are all immensely proud of the magnificent officers and men who have, in recent years, died in battle. Some of these officers were leaders of the highest calibre whom every country in the world would be eager to claim as their own. They were brave, they were able - and above all they were gentlemen. They embodied all the attributes of a good officer that I have spoken of today. They have set examples that the young officers passing out today should strive to emulate. An officer must not only be a man of valour, he must be a man of honour.

In times of war within a State, of the kind we are experiencing now, the strain on the Armed Services is very considerable. They have to fight effectively, they have to fight a ruthless enemy, they have to fight an enemy that is often difficult to find, they have to fight an enemy who is inextricably mixed up with a civilian population, they have to fight an enemy in a battle that is not frontal. All these are complex and difficult problems that the Armed Services have to face daily at the battlefront.

But in addition the Armed Forces have to make an effort - an almost superhuman effort - to observe the distinction - the difficult line - between combatants and non-combatants. We are fighting not merely to vanquish an enemy, we are fighting ultimately to build a lasting peace in our country that can only come about by welding our different communities together, not by driving them apart, by seeing to it that the war does not leave permanent scars on the psyche of its innocent victims.

It is internationally agreed that modern conflict should be governed by certain rules. While it is universally recognised that the Armed Forces of a State have a duty to protect and assert the sovereignty of the State, to fight the battles of the State, they also have a duty to protect the human rights of non-combatant civilians. The line between combatants and non-combatants is clearly drawn in international law.

I say with pride that our Army has shown in recent years that it has learnt to treat civilians who live in the battle zones with courtesy and care. As new officers in the Army I say to the Cadets this morning that they must guard and build on that excellent tradition that is now enshrined in the philosophy and practice of our Army.

When the day comes, and I believe it will come, for the Armed Forces to lay down their arms because they have done their duty and won their battles, the peace that is going to be constructed, basically by civilians, will be rendered possible only if the Armed Forces have seen to it that in fighting the war they also respected and had regard for, and wherever possible looked after, cared for and tended the civilians who in those difficult times were geographically on the side of the enemy. That is a difficult task but a task profoundly worthy of your best attention, your unflinching attention at all times, bearing in mind the supreme responsibility you have not only for seeing to it that the country remains whole, but that the country ultimately remains united. Let us never have to rue the day when we won the war, but lost the peace for which the war was fought.

I ask the young Cadets who will shortly leave this Academy for the battlefront to remember, at all times, that the enemy is not the Tamil people, not innocent Tamil civilians. They are the victims of war. The enemy is a ruthless, fanatical force, small in number, high in ambition, undemocratic and fascist in nature who are dedicated to the dismemberment of our State, of our sovereign territory. They are the enemy. Your task is to deal with them and to defend the territorial integrity of our country. I know that a large number of the Cadets on parade today come from the small towns and villages of Sri Lanka. To their parents I say that by encouraging your sons and daughters to enter the military service of the country you send a message that is clear. No sacrifice is too great to preserve the unity of all the people of Sri Lanka.

Your task is also to see that the Tamil people become your friends, your brothers and sisters. All of us who live in this island must be able to treat this island as our home. We must all be able, regardless of race and religion, to live and work and prosper in every nook and corner of our land with dignity, with confidence, with security.