New Delhi: India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday along with the NSAs of the member countries of the Colombo Security Conclave, reiterated the role and responsibility of the CSC in ensuring the safety, security, and stability of the Indian Ocean Region from traditional, non-traditional, and emerging hybrid challenges, sources said.
Doval was speaking at the 6th NSA-level Meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave in Port Louis, Mauritius. The Colombo Security Conclave was established in 2020 when India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives agreed to expand the scope and membership of their Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Cooperation.
Mauritius joined the conclave at the 5th NSA-level meeting of the Conclave on 09-10 March 2022 held in Male, Maldives. Cooperation under the CSC focuses on five pillars of cooperation including maritime safety and security, countering terrorism and radicalization, combating trafficking and transnational organized crime, cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Bangladesh and Seychelles have been joining the meetings of the erstwhile Trilateral on Maritime Cooperation as well as the Colombo Security Conclave as Observer States, sources said. The 6th NSA-level Meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave was hosted by Mauritius. The National Security Advisers of Member Countries participated along with senior delegates from Bangladesh and Seychelles.
Member States reviewed the progress of the decisions taken at the 5th NSA-level Meeting and agreed on a Roadmap of Activities for 2024. Member States reiterated the role and responsibility of the CSC in ensuring the safety, security, and stability of the Indian Ocean Region from traditional, non-traditional, and emerging hybrid challenges.
Over the past year, member and Observer States have participated in several activities covering areas such as marine pollution, maritime law, coastal security, oceanography, and hydrography, countering the financing of terrorism, investigation of terrorism cases, narcotics trafficking, cyber-crime, and cyber security. Under the maritime safety and security pillar, the first Oceanographers and Hydrographers Conference was held in November 2022 in Goa and Hyderabad.
Senior scientists from Member and Observer States agreed on a substantive list of deliverables including the establishment of institutional linkages between the oceanography and hydrography institutes, joint expeditions and scientific research, collaboration in environmental impact assessment about maritime incidents, and sharing of oceanographic information.
As a follow-up to the conference, a CSC Ocean Information Services portal was launched at the 6th NSA-level Meeting in Mauritius. The second Oceanographers and Hydrographers conference is scheduled to be held in early 2024.
Another regular activity under this pillar is the CSC Coastal Security Conference. The first conference held in December 2022 in Chennai, India brought together the heads of Coast Guards and other senior leadership from Member and Observer States to discuss threats to their respective coasts and agreed to continue cooperating in dealing with these threats through continuous sharing of information and engagements, sources said.
The next Coastal Security Conference is likely to be scheduled in the last quarter of 2024. As a part of training and capacity-building activities of the CSC, police officers, counter-terrorism experts, drug law enforcement officers, and cyber security experts have been engaging in regular exchanges both in virtual and physical formats. Joint Working Groups on Countering Terrorism and Radicalization and Cyber Security and Protection of Critical Infrastructure have also been established to further deepen cooperation in specific priority areas.
Similarly, Joint Working Groups on Combating Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief have also been conceptualized and under discussion between Member States. In addition to the NSA level meeting, the Colombo Security Conclave also meets at the Deputy NSA level meeting to oversee the implementation of the decisions and directions from the NSA level meeting. The next edition of the NSA-level meeting is scheduled to be held in India in 2024. During his visit to Mauritius, the NSA also called on Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius.
