Bangladesh becomes fifth member of Colombo Security Conclave

NEW DELHI — India, Mauritius, Maldives and Sri Lanka welcomed Bangladesh as the fifth Member State of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) at the 8th Deputy National Security Adviser (DNSA) level meeting of the regional grouping which was hosted virtually by Mauritius on Wednesday.

Till now, Bangladesh, like Seychelles, was an Observer State in the CSC — a grouping of the Indian Ocean countries in South Asia.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval has led India’s maritime security cooperation with the Indian Ocean countries through initiatives like the CSC.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the Member States agreed that the 7th NSA-level meeting of the CSC will be held in India, later this year.

The participants also reviewed the decisions taken at the 7th DNSA-level meeting hosted virtually by Maldives in July 2023, the 6th NSA-level meeting hosted by Mauritius in December 2023, and the progress of activities under the Roadmap of Activities for 2023-2024 of the CSC.

India was represented by Pankaj Kumar Singh, Deputy NSA (Internal Affairs) at the meeting.

Lt. Gen. Mizanur Rahman Shameem, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division at Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office and Major General (Retd.) Hameed Shafeeg, Deputy NSA, Maldives, led their country’s respective delegations.

Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff, General LHSC Silva and Yoidhisteer Thecka, Principal Coordinator on Security Matters from Maldives’ PMO also took part in the virtual meeting.

The Secretariat of the CSC in Colombo was represented by the Acting Secretary, Commodore A.D. Weerasinghe while the delegation from Seychelles was led by Lt. Col. Michael Hollanda, Commander of Land Force, Seychelles Defence Forces.