At the recently concluded 5th Colombo Security Conclave held at Maldives from 9 to 10th March, Mauritius became the newest member of the group. With Bangladesh and Seychelles as observer states, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Mauritius discussed a five-point roadmap to bolster security and strengthen cooperation in the India Ocean Region. This five-point roadmap will primarily focus on these five pillars: Maritime Safety and Security; Countering Terrorism and Radicalisation; Combating Trafficking and Transnational Organised Crime; Cyber Security, Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Technology and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.
According to a joint statement, “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.”
This NSA-level meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave was attended by Kumaresan Ilango, National Security Adviser to Mauritius along with Mariya Ahmed Didi, Minister of Defence of Maldives; National Security Adviser to India, Shri Ajit Doval; General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd.), Secretary to the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka. The delegation from Bangladesh was led by Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Defence and Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Seychelles was represented by Simon Archange Dine, Chief of Staff of Seychelles Defence Forces.
The Colombo Security Conclave was founded as a trilateral security framework between India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives with four pillars of security cooperation, covering marine safety and security, human trafficking, counter-terrorism, and cyber security. After reaching consensus at the 5th Colombo Security Conclave, the member states added Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief as the 5th Pillar of cooperation and regional security.
