Let Not Us Forget Development of Maritime Economic Cooperation

November 15, 2024

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Development - Provincial

Let Not Us Forget Development of Maritime Economic Cooperation - Dr S. Chandran

August 20, 2014

Adding a civilian but a scholarly perspective to the ‘Defence Seminar’ sessions of the day (19), Dr. D. Suba Chandran, Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi, India commenting on the ‘Indian Perspective of Sri Lanka’s Pursuit of Prosperity’ spoke in length how civilian ‘expectations’ be transformed to be realities.

He basically stressed the need to convert the end of violence to positive peace and requirement for a mechanism that could ensure that transit to positive peace and stability, equally important is the management of those expectations in the aftermath of a long-drawn conflict and also the building of the capacity of civilian institutions. However, it would be very challenging to see that because there could remain a vaccum, difficult to be filled in post - conflict scenarios.

The other set of issues is based on potentials, particularly with the youth bulge in the whole of South Asia. For this capacity building, such potentials must be tapped. Similarly, we focus only on maritime security but why not maritime economic cooperation or what we call the Indian Ocean Regional Association (IORA) for that matter, Dr Suba Chandran queried.

Here follow excerpts of his contribution to the sessions:

“Sri Lanka has undergone tremendous transformation in the recent years. Ever since the War had come to an end, the country has witnessed remarkable changes. This rise and transformation also poses multiple challenges, along with presenting multiple opportunities as well.

One of the primary challenge is to convert the end of conflict into positive peace. Like many other states dealing with post conflict reconstruction, Sri Lanka also is facing challenges to convert the end of war into a positive peace. The earlier Sri Lanka completes this transformation process, faster and greater would be its economic and national growth.

An important opportunity for contemporary Sri Lanka emanates from its unique geographic location. There has been so much of international interest in the recent years on protecting sea lanes of communication, as the maritime trade is substantial. Sri Lanka occupies a crucial place in this.

The Indian Ocean is also witnessing competing new paradigms pushed forward by great powers such as the US and China. The Indo-Pacific and the Maritime Silk Route, are two such new paradigms, which pose multiple opportunities.

On the other hand, India has been attempting to revive its Look East Strategy and have been working with both the US and China. India could work with Sri Lanka and both countries can make use of the new opportunities and grow together.”
(SL Army)