At the fifth NSA-level meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave, a regional security grouping comprising India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and newest member of the Conclave Mauritius agreed on a roadmap to bolster cooperation. Meanwhile, delegations from Bangladesh and Seychelles participated as Observers.
“The member states agreed upon a roadmap for further cooperation and collaboration on these pillars of cooperation. The roadmap will facilitate robust mechanisms for coordinated responses capacity building and strengthening information flow between member states,” a joint statement issued by the grouping said.
The five-point roadmap was finalized at a two-day summit held in the Maldives from March 9-10. Identified key areas of cooperation to enhance and strengthen regional security in the following five pillars are :
-Maritime Safety and Security
-Countering Terrorism and Radicalisation
-Combating Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime
-Cyber Security, Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Technology
-Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
As maritime neighbors, facing similar threats, the Conclave reaffirmed their commitment to engage in consistent joint efforts to achieve regional peace and security. The Member states agreed upon a roadmap for further cooperation and collaboration on these pillars of cooperation. The roadmap will facilitate robust mechanisms for coordinated responses capacity building and strengthening information flow between member states, the joint statement added.
India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, in his statement, called for strengthening cooperation amongst maritime neighbours to address shared security challenges and as first responders.
The Colombo Security Conclave was founded as a trilateral security framework between India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Earlier this year, India had conducted the first Colombo Security Conclave Virtual Workshop on “Developing Regional Cyber Security Capabilities on Defensive operations, Deep/Dark Web handling and Digital Forensics.”
