Sri Lanka to host 4th NSA Level Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation

COLOMBO (News 1st): Sri Lanka will host the 4th National Security Adviser (NSA) Level Trilateral Meeting on the Maritime Security Cooperation between India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, on 27th and 28th November in Colombo, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday (Nov. 26).

India's National Security Adviser Shri Ajit Doval, and Maldivian Defence Minister, Mariya Didi will lead the senior-level delegations to attend the Trilateral Meeting, on the invitation of Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary, Major General (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne, the Ministry of Defence noted in a press release.

According to the press release, delegations from Bangladesh, Mauritius, and Seychelles will participate as observers.

"The high-level engagement, that covers a wide range of subjects, is designed to initiate collective action on maritime security, including Maritime Domain Awareness, legal regimes, training, search and rescue, maritime pollution response, information sharing, curbing piracy, drugs and contraband trafficking in the Indian Ocean region," the press release read.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the NSA meeting is convening this year, after six years since the last meeting in New Delhi in 2014.

"The Heads of Delegation are scheduled to conduct bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting," the press released further read.