Expansion of Colombo Security Conclave: Bangladesh Joins as Fifth Member

Bangladesh has received a warm welcome as the newest, fifth Member State of this regional grouping known as the Colombo Security Conclave, during the 8th Deputy National Security Adviser level meeting. This was a virtual meeting hosted by Mauritius on Wednesday. With this, Bangladesh moved from Observer State status, which it shared with Seychelles to that of full-fledged member of the CSC, a collective of the Indian Ocean nations in South Asia.

It is under India's National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, that maritime security cooperation among countries along the Indian Ocean has been carried to the forefront through initiatives such as the CSC.The meeting also agreed to hold the 7th NSA-level meeting of the CSC in India later this year among member states.

Discussions during the said meeting include, among others, decisions reached in earlier meetings wherein Maldives hosted the 7th DNSA level last July 2023 and Mauritius, the 6th NSA level last December 2023. Aside from this, activities under the 2023-2024 Roadmap of Activities under the CSC shall be further discussed, reviewed, and assessed by the participants.

From the part of India, it was represented by Dys NSA, Pankaj Kumar Singh, in so far as the internal affairs are concerned. Lt Gen Mizanur Rahman Shameem has been leading from the side of Bangladesh, while from Maldives, the delegation was headed by Major General, Retd Hameed Shafeeq. The Sri Lankan delegation included Chief of Defence Staff, General LHSC Silva, and Maldives delegation was led by Yoidhisteer Thecka, Principal Coordinator on Security Matters in the Prime Minister's Office of Maldives.

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

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