Male: India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Mauritius on Thursday agreed upon a roadmap for further cooperation to enhance and strengthen maritime regional security and countering terrorism as well as Transnational Organised Crime at the 5th NSA level meeting of Colombo Security Conclave.

Delegations of the founding members of Colombo Security Conclave; Maldives, India and Sri Lanka, and the newest member of the Conclave, Mauritius, successfully concluded the 5th National Security Adviser level meeting held on March 9-10 in the Maldives, said the Joint statement of the 5th NSA level meeting of Colombo Security Conclave 2022.

Delegations from Bangladesh and Seychelles participated as Observers.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval; Maldives Defence Minister, Mariya Ahmed Didi; General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd) Secretary to the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka; and Kumaresan Ilango, National Security Adviser to Mauritius, identified key areas of cooperation to enhance and strengthen regional security in the following five pillars.

The five pillars include, Maritime Safety and Security, Countering Terrorism and Radicalisation, Combating Trafficking and Transnational Organised Crime, Cyber Security, Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Technology, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, read the joint statement.

The Member states agreed upon a roadmap for further cooperation and collaboration on these pillars of cooperation. The roadmap will facilitate robust mechanisms for coordinated responses capacity building and strengthening information flow between member states.

The delegation from Bangladesh was led by Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Defence and Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Seychelles was represented by Simon Archange Dine, Chief of Staff of Seychelles Defence Forces.

As maritime neighbours, facing similar threats, the Conclave reaffirmed their commitment to engage in consistent joint efforts to achieve regional peace and security, the joint statement added.