India - Lanka to curb piracy threats
For the last time, the Coast Guards of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives participated in a joint exercise in April 2012
India and Sri Lanka have decided to seek more joint naval exercises to ward off any possible threat from piracy in the Indian Ocean in future, informed sources said yesterday.
During the visit of India's National Security Advisor Shiv Sankar Menon, the two sides discussed the need to increase joint naval excises for maritime security
Informed sources said though such a threat from piracy was not visible at the moment, it was all the more important for the two countries to be in guard for the safety of sea lanes.
Important trade arteries that lie in the sea off
During the visit of India's National Security Advisor Shiv Sankar Menon, the two sides discussed the need to increase joint naval excises for maritime security
Sri Lanka and India are used for transnational shipments between the MiddleEast and Asia Pacific region.
For the last time, the Coast Guards of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives participated in a joint exercise named "Dosti XI" in Maldives from 23 to 27 April 2012.
A media release posted on the official website of the High Commission of India said that the exercise was successfully conducted off Male with the three Coast Guards working together to hone their skills. Exercise "Dosti" (Friendship) till now was a biannual exercise started in 1991 with the objective of strengthening co-operation between the Coast Guards of India and Maldives. The exercise in its 20th year achieved a new milestone with the inclusion of the Sri Lankan Coast Guard.
The two countries, together with Maldives, are now planning to stage such exercises in future too.
Earlier, the government of Somalia also sought help from Sri Lanka Navy to curb acts of piracy in their waters. In this case, the Somali government sought to learn from the experience of Sri Lanka Navy after it crushed the LTTE naval wing called 'sea tigers'.
During Mr. Menon's visit, attention was also placed on the need to address the issues of fishermen of the two countries in a human manner.