India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka today signed a deal on maritime security during the second National Security Adviser Meeting on Trilateral Cooperation the Ministry of Defence.

The Secretary, Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa led the Sri Lankan delegation. Shivshanker Menon, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India and Mohamed Nazim, Minister of Defence and National Security of the Maldives headed the Indian and Maldivian sides respectively.

An agreement was reached on the importance of raising the maritime cooperation between the three countries in the current context of maritime security environment in the Indian Ocean region. The meeting follows several senior official and technical level consultations held between the three neighbouring countries.

At the conclusion of the meeting an outcome document detailing specific areas of cooperation in the maritime security sphere was signed.

The High Commissioner of India YK Sinha, the High Commissioner of the Maldives Hussain Shihab and Joint Secretary of the Security Council Secretariat (India) Saurabh Kumar were among the foreign delegates.

Source: Colombo Gazette (Sri Lanka)