Colombo Security Conclave, the 5th NSA-Level Meeting concludes in Maldives

The Fifth National Security Adviser (NSA) level meeting hosted by the Republic of Maldives was successfully held on March 9-10 with the participation of the delegations of the founding members of Colombo Security Conclave: Maldives, India and Sri Lanka and the newest member of the Conclave, Mauritius. Delegations from Bangladesh and Seychelles participated as Observers.

A series of trilateral meetings had been convened successfully and the Fourth NSA-Level trilateral meeting was held in Sri Lanka on 28 November 2020, Defense Ministry said.

The inaugural trilateral meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation was held in the year 2011 as an initiative of the former Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and the current Sri Lankan President His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The Fifth NSA level meeting in Maldives was attended by their Excellencies Mariya Ahmed Didi, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Maldives; Ajit Doval, KC, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Republic of India; General Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Kumaresan Ilango, National Security Adviser to the Republic of Mauritius.

The Bangladesh delegation was led by H.E. Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Defence and Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and H.E. Simon Archange Dine, Chief of Staff of Seychelles Defence Forces represented Seychelles.

Addressing the meeting, General Kamal Gunaratne reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to the Colombo Security Conclave and the intention to actively spearhead in pursuing the common grounds. Sri Lanka will host the Permanent Secretariat of the Conclave.