Under the auspices of the Colombo Security Colloquium, the Indian Coast Guard Region (North East) will hold the fourth iteration of the Table Top Exercise in Kolkata from March 14 to 16, 2023. Besides from the Indian Coast Guard, participants in the exercise include representatives of the Colombo Security Conclave’s member countries, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Mauritius, as well as Bangladesh and Seychelles’ observer status. Talks are taking place on issues relating to maritime concerns, such as dealing with threats from anti-national elements, responding to marine pollution, search and rescue, and damage management at sea.
The Colombo Security Conclave was formed in 2011 as a trilateral maritime security grouping of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The schedule of events was later enlarged when Bangladesh and Seychelles joined as observers and Mauritius joined as a fourth member. The Colloquium highlights regional collaboration and common security goals including all littoral countries in the Indian Ocean Basin (IOR). It intends to elevate maritime search and rescue, marine pollution response, and maritime security as regional priorities.
The IOR’s marine safety and security depends on cooperation amongst maritime neighbours. Indicative of India’s policy aims are Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Security and Development for Everyone in the Region (SAGAR) and the neighbourhood first policy. To handle the oceanic difficulties, a collaborative environment and mechanism in the maritime neighbourhood of IOR are crucial, thereby ensuring maritime safety, security and protection of marine environment.
