Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives have agreed to work on “four pillars” of security cooperation, covering areas of marine security, human trafficking, counter-terrorism, and cyber security.
The matter was discussed during a virtual meeting of top security officials of the three countries. Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army Shavendra Silva hosted the Deputy National Security Adviser-level meeting virtually.
Pankaj Saran, Deputy National Security Adviser of India, and Aishath Nooshin Waheed, Secretary, National Security Adviser’s Office of the Maldivian President attended the event.
The discussion comes nine months after Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visited Colombo for deliberations with Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Kamal Gunaratne, and Defence Minister of Maldives, Mariya Didi, in which the three countries agreed to expand the scope of intelligence sharing.
Their meeting marked the revival of NSA-level trilateral talks on maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region after a gap of six years.
The ‘Colombo Security Conclave’ among the three neighbouring countries seeks to “further promote” maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, and was initiated by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2011, when he was Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.
