Rohan Daluwatte

General Rohan De Silva Daluwatte, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (9 May 1941 – 27 August 2018) was a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Army. He served as Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and Chief of the Defence Staff. Following his retirement from the army, he served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil among other appointments.

The major achievement during his tenure as Army Chief of Staff was the capture of the Jaffna peninsula during Operation Riviresa, under his command as Joint Operations Commander. As Commander of the Army, he oversaw large scale operations against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Operation Jayasikurui, Operation Sath Jaya and Operation Thrivida Pahara with mixed success.

Early life and education Daluwatte was born in Ambalangoda, a coastal town in the south of Sri Lanka, to D. H. Paulis De Silva, a planter and former athlete; and D. W. Leela Somawathie.

On his return to Ceylon, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment, Ceylon Armoured Corps on 1 August 1963. He then attended the young officers course at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre, Bowington. He later went on to captain the Sri Lankan Army basketball team.

Commander of the Army On 1 May 1996, he was appointed the 14th Commander of the Army of Sri Lanka by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. The early part of his tenure saw the loss of Mullaitivu and Operation Sath Jaya which captured Kilinochchi. After the loss of Vavunathivu, Operation Jayasikurui was launched as the largest military operation undertaken by the Sri Lankan armed forces at the time to open a land route to the Jaffna peninsula through the LTTE held areas. It was called off by President Kumaratunga after having captured Mannakulam, Omanthai and Nedunkerny, but losing Kilinochchi and failing in achieving its objective. In April 1997, he co-hosted with Commander Pacific Army the Pacific Armies Management Seminar. On 15 December 1998, he retired from the military service, having been promoted to the rank of General.

Later life After retiring from the army, he was appointed the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Brazil in 2002. With no permanent diplomatic presence in Brazil, General Daluwatte established a Sri Lankan embassy in Brasília and served as Sri Lanka Ambassador till 2005. Later, he was appointed Chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka and then the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. He also served as the Chancellor of the Kotalawala Defence University.

Death General Daluwatte died on the 27 August 2018 at the army hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was cremated at the Borella Cemetery in Colombo with full military honours on 29 August 2018.

Family He met his wife while he was captain of the national basketball team whilst she was playing for the Sri Lanka national women's team. They had a daughter Radiesha; and a son, Radesh.

Honors In the course of his military career he was awarded several of Sri Lanka's highest medals and decorations, including the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya, Rana Wickrama Padakkama, Rana Sura Padakkama, Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya and Uttama Seva Padakkama.