India, Sri Lanka to Formalise Colombo Security Conclave

COLOMBO (News 1st); India and Sri Lanka are moving closer to fully formalising the Colombo Security Conclave, an initiative aimed at addressing shared security challenges in the Indian Ocean region, Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri said.

Speaking on the subject, the Indian Foreign Secretary stated that India and Sri Lanka have been engaging for several years on innovative frameworks to tackle emerging security challenges in the region. He noted that cooperation under the Colombo Security Conclave has already been underway at multiple levels and is now in the process of being formally institutionalised.

Shri Vikram Misri said that an interim secretariat is already operational in Colombo, which serves as the headquarters of the Colombo Security Conclave. He highlighted that steady progress has been made in recent years through meetings of National Security Advisors and their deputies from participating countries to develop the agenda, advance cooperation, and elevate the dialogue platform to the status of an international organisation.

According to him, all agreements related to this process have been concluded, and the parties are now awaiting the finalisation of the headquarters agreement. He added that, by consensus, the first Secretary General of the Colombo Security Conclave will be an Indian national, and approvals are currently awaited for the appointment to be finalised, noting that certain procedural requirements in Sri Lanka are yet to be completed.

The Indian Foreign Secretary further said that the importance of the Colombo Security Conclave in addressing regional security challenges, as well as the need to complete the remaining procedural steps so that the organisation can begin functioning in full capacity, was discussed between the leaders of the two countries. 

He expressed hope that these remaining requirements would be fulfilled swiftly, emphasising that it would be to the mutual benefit of all member countries, particularly those located along the littorals of the Indian Ocean.