Sri Lanka’s role in the Bay of Bengal and wider Indian Ocean

‘Trincomalee Consultations – 2018’ was conducted by The Pathfinder Foundation’s Centre for Indo-Lanka Initiatives recently in Colombo. The event, convened in collaboration with two New Delhi-based think-tanks Carnegie India and Vivekananda International Foundation, was sponsored by Japan. The theme of the conference was ‘A Secure and Safe Bay of Bengal for Common Development and Prosperity’. Countries attending the event were Bangladesh, India, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The Chief Guest, State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, delivered the opening address focusing on the role of Sri Lanka in the Bay of Bengal and wider Indian Ocean. Following is the full speech:

I am indeed honoured to be invited by the Pathfinder Foundation to attend the inauguration of ‘Trincomalee Consultations – 2018’, which is the second round, following the successful first round held in 2017.

The theme of the conference is ‘Secure and Safe Bay of Bengal for Common Development and Prosperity,’ and I take that what is intended to be discussed is development potential for prosperity of the countries and people living around the rim of the bay in a secure environment.  

The Bay of Bengal is a dynamic region located in the Indian Ocean, which is home to nearly one quarter of the world’s population. Moreover, the Indian Ocean is of high economic and strategic significance to the world due to the sheer volume of maritime traffic that passes through it. It is estimated that nearly half of world’s container shipping, one third of bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of oil shipments pass through the Indian Ocean.  

The Bay of Bengal is the world’s largest bay, which plays a significant role in maritime affairs of the world as the connector between the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. Its waters wash shores of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Several other countries are located in the periphery of the Bay, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The combined population of these countries is close to two billion.

Over the years, there has been a gradual shift in global economic weight and influence from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to Indo-Pacific.  Rise of China to the second and India to the sixth position in the world economic order, is a clear example of this dynamic economic shift, which is constantly changing leading to strategic concerns.

With a growing population in India and a slightly larger population in China, there will be a need to produce, transport and trade more, generating demand and competition for raw materials.  Consequently, the Indian Ocean has become the key ocean for supply of energy, trade and food security in the 21st century.  These developments have also led to rivalries leading to new interest in the freedom of navigation and over-fly the Indian Ocean.  

The Indian Ocean is part of global commons and many major trading nations such as the USA, Japan, China, Republic of Korea, Australia as well as other major maritime users appear to be concerned of recent developments in the Indian Ocean region. There are also several politically and security wise unstable states in the Indian Ocean region, which add to the volatility of strategic maritime security.  Also, presence of non-state actors such as pirates, terrorists, hijackers, IUU fishers, religious extremists, and smugglers of weapons, narcotics and humans, make maritime security a complex task.

India and Sri Lanka have the unique advantage of straddling the Arabian Sea as well as the Bay of Bengal. With India’s “Act east policy”, Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific policy”, the USA’s “Rebalance to Indo-Pacific strategy” and “China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” project, the Bay of Bengal has assumed immense strategic significance. 

Sri Lanka, situated in the epicentre of the Indian Ocean and having cordial relations with all states in the region, is geographically well positioned to bring scholars, think-tanks and policy makers from across the Indo-Pacific region to discuss a wide variety of subjects and new concepts such as ‘Maritime Domain Awareness’ (MDA) and institutions such as ‘International Oceanology Research Centre’, focusing on the Bay of Bengal region. Similarly, taking advantage of Trincomalee, one of the largest natural harbours in the world, Sri Lanka could play a significant role in enhancing connectivity for shared development among the countries in the Bay of Bengal region.

Sri Lanka has been tasked to function as the lead country to develop a new maritime security and safety framework for Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). There is a special committee appointed to undertake this task and I am of the view that contribution from this conference would be beneficial for such deliberations as well. We need a collaborative approach, we need partnership, we need fresh thinking and we need to work together to protect the common heritage of the oceans for present and future generations. 

I consider this consultation process focusing on the common destiny and shared prosperity of the Bay of Bengal is timely and important. I would like to congratulate Pathfinder Foundation for the initiative taken in creating progressive academic discussion and supporting the common endeavours of the Bay of Bengal community.

It is refreshing to see that Pathfinder has succeeded in assembling an expert team representing the Bay of Bengal countries and other stakeholders for this event and I am confident these deliberations will be of considerable value for the Bay of Bengal community. I wish to express my appreciation to Carnegie India and Vivekananda International Foundation for partnering Pathfinder in this endeavour. I also appreciate the interest and continued commitment of the Government of Japan to prosperity of the Bay of Bengal Region.

I wish a successful conference.