Pathfinder Indian Ocean Security Conference (PFIOSC) – Phase II to be convened on 4 March

Following several successful regional and international conferences since 2017 and the first Pathfinder Indian Ocean Security Conference (PFIOSC) held in November 2020, the Pathfinder Foundation has scheduled Phase II of the Indian Ocean Security Conference to be held on a virtual platform on 4 March. The meeting will ensure continuity of the Indian Ocean dialogue. 

Pathfinder Foundation Chairman Bernard Goonetilleke and former Ambassador, National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary of India Shivshankar Menon will serve as Co-Chairs of the Conference. Former Ambassador of Sri Lanka Geetha de Silva will guide the conference proceedings as Secretary-General. 

The one-day event will host three sessions with the participation of eminent resource persons. The first session on A New Security Architecture for the Indian Ocean Region will be moderated by Director Delhi Policy Group, India General Ambassador (Retd.) Hemant Singh with Director – Strategy and Policy Analysis, Centre for Naval Analysis, the US as the Main Presenter Nilanthi Samaranayake. 

The University of Paris VIII, France French Institute of Geopolitics Assistant Professor Dr. Isabelle Saint-Mezard and Research Institute for Peace and Security, Tokyo, Japan President Tokuti Hideshi will contribute as panelists.

Sri Lanka Navy former Commander and former Chief of Defence Staff Sri Lanka Admiral (Retd.) Ravindra Wijegunaratne is set to moderate the second session on Maritime Domain Awareness, with PhD candidate and Australian National University National Security College Research Officer Samuel Bashfield providing the main presentation. University of Copenhagen, Denmark Department of Political Science Prof. Christian Bueger, and Center for International Security and Strategy Senior Fellow China Senior Colonel (Retd.) Zhou Bo functioning as panelists. 

Session III on Confidence Building Measures includes Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Secretary-General Ambassador Salman Al Farisi as the Moderator, while National Maritime Foundation, India Director General Vice Admiral (Retd.) Pradeep Chauhan will function as the Main Presenter. 

National Defence University, US Near East South Asia (NESA) Centre Academic Dean and IISS, UK Associate Fellow Prof. Roger Kangas, and Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Head South Asia and the Indian Ocean Dr. Alexey Kupriyanov will function as panelists.

The one-day virtual event is scheduled for 4 March from 1 – 02:15 pm. It is open to the public. Those who are interested in participating may contact the Pathfinder Foundation at +94 114 529 953/2 on the phone; [email protected] via email or through the Foundation’s Facebook page at Pathfinder Foundation|Facebook.