India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will share capacities and information to address threats to maritime security — such as piracy, terrorism and gunrunning —in the Indian Ocean and to pursue sustainable development of maritime environment.
The three countries arrived at an agreement on the issues at the meeting on Trilateral Cooperation on Maritime Security held here on Monday.
Trade and energy
Shivshankar Menon, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister — who met the Indian media here on Tuesday — underscored the need for sustainable development of maritime environment, which the three countries depended on for free flow of trade and energy. Such development, Mr. Menon said, would also help fishermen and others who also depended on the maritime environment for their livelihood, besides equipping the countries better to deal with emergencies, such as cyclones or a tsunami.
Following the first NSA-level trilateral talks on maritime security in Male, held in October 2011, four meetings were held at the senior official and technical level with representatives from the three sides.
In the second NSA-level meeting held in Colombo, they reviewed the action plan evolved by technical experts. “Yesterday we met, we reviewed it and signed the formal document which lays out the initial steps of what we will do in these areas to create a joint platform. We will share our capacities, our information and so on.”
