In a recent virtual conference of the three countries’ top security officials, the Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka decided to work on “four pillars” of security cooperation, including marine security, human trafficking, counterterrorism, and cyber security.
Sri Lanka convened a Deputy National Security Adviser-level meeting online on Wednesday, which was headed by General LHSC Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army of Sri Lanka. Aishath Nooshin Waheed, Secretary of the Maldives National Security Adviser’s Office and Pankaj Saran, India’s Deputy National Security Adviser, both attended.
On Wednesday, General LHSC Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army of Sri Lanka, hosted the Deputy National Security Adviser-level meeting online. Both Aishath Nooshin Waheed, Secretary of the Maldives’ National Security Adviser’s Office, and Pankaj Saran, India’s Deputy National Security Adviser, attended the meeting.
According to the Indian High Commission, during the discussion, the respective members defined four pillars of cooperation in Marine Safety and Security, Terrorism and Radicalization, Trafficking and Organized Crime, and Cyber Security. They deliberated on concrete recommendations for collaboration in each area, such as joint exercises and training.
The discussion comes nine months after Defence Minister Mariya Didi met with India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne in Colombo, where the three countries agreed to broaden the scope of intelligence sharing, reviving NSA-level trilateral talks on maritime security in the Indian Ocean.
