Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe recently said that no country could counter a trans-national maritime threat posed by ‘non-state actors’ alone. Addressing a two-day seminar on Indo-Sri Lanka bilateral seminar on countering maritime threats posed by terrorists, the Navy chief emphasised the importance of global cooperation to overcome the challenge. He said that every country could contribute irrespective of size to this effort.

The seminar organised by the Ministry of Defence, Strategic Affairs Division in collaboration with the National Maritime Foundation of India (NMF), was held on November 4 and 5 at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo.

The head of the National Martitime Foundation of India, former Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd) delivered the Key Note address.

Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Romesh Jayasinghe, Advisors to the President, Major General M. D. Perera (Retd) and Nihal Rodrigo, High Commissioner designate to India and Acting High Commissioner for India Prasad Kariyawasam, Dr. Rohan Perera PC, Legal Adviser, Director General Coast Guard Rear Admiral LD Dharmapriya and Strategic Affairs Adviser, Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order B. S. Colonne also graced the opening session.

At the invitation of the Office of Strategic Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order, the two-day seminar was attended by some Naval and military officers who shared their expertise during the deliberations at the four sessions that followed Military and non-military experts specialised in maritime affairs conducted lectures on a wide range of topics related to countering maritime threats posed by non-state actors.