Big countries in IOR need SL’S help - Navy

The big countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) need Sri Lanka’s assistance to face maritime security threats and similarly Sri Lanka needs the assistance of other countries, Sri Lanka Navy said yesterday.

Navy Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Piyal De Silva said this at a media briefing held at the Navy Headquarter on the 9th Galle Dialogue organised by the Navy.

“We cannot act alone in the ocean.we have a large sea area to cover. North and Western seas are the major sea routes used for drugs smuggling. We were able to thwart several attempts by drug smugglers,” he said.

Commenting on the detection in the IOR, he said a total of 28 tonnes of hashish and two tonnes of heroin which had a street value of US$1.8 billion was seized in the IOR by the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) this year

“These checks had been conducted outside the Sri Lankan maritime region. Some of them might have been heading towards Sri Lanka. Although the Sri Lanka Navy was not a part of the detection, SL Navy joins the navies of other countries to combat drug trafficking, human smuggling and illegal fishing in our waters and in the Indian Ocean as well,” the Navy Chief of Staff said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the 9th Galle Dialogue, he said it would be held in Colombo on October 22 and 23 under the theme “Synergizing for Collaborative Maritime Management”.

World-wide maritime partners from 50 countries and 17 international organizations are expected to make their presence in this year’s event with President Maithripala Sirisena participating as the chief guest.

This year’s event expects to attract an audience of 137 foreign participants including Myanmar Navy Commander, Maldivian and Seychelles Coast Guard chiefs.