Galle Dialogue 2023 ends on successful note

The Galle Dialogue 2023 International Maritime Conference, held under the theme ‘Emerging New Order in the Indian Ocean’, concluded on October 13 with a resounding success, marking a significant milestone in charting the course for the future of maritime affairs in the region.

The 11th edition of Galle Dialogue International Maritime Conference, organized by the Sri Lanka Navy in collaboration with the Defence Ministry and Geopolitical Cartographer (GC), commenced on Thursday (12) at the Jetwing Lighthouse in Galle.

The inaugural ceremony was held under the patronage of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ranil Wickremesinghe and with the presence of Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera, dignitaries and distinguished guests.

Maritime representatives from 42 countries, along with 11 international organizations attended the conference to engage in comprehensive discussions on the challenges and opportunities in the Indian Ocean.

During this five-session international conference, the third, fourth, and fifth sessions were successfully conducted on Friday (13).

The third session held under the theme ‘Maritime Environment Protection for Collaborative Maritime Prosperity’ was moderated by Professor Geoffrey Till.

In that session, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director General Operations, Rear Admiral Pradeep Rathnayake discussed the ‘Nexus between Climate Change Impacts and Maritime Security’ and Rear Admiral Md. Khurshed Alam (Retd) focused on ‘Incidents at Sea and the Readiness of Coastal States to Prevent Maritime Environmental Disasters and Post Recovery’.

Meanwhile, Sarah Lou Y. Arripola addressed the ‘Regulatory and Procedural Framework of Managing Maritime Casualties in Coastal Waters and Admiral Piyal De Silva (Retd) explored the ‘Shared Prosperity through Preserving and Protecting Underwater Maritime Heritage’.

The fourth segment of the conference, moderated by Professor Wade David Turvold, centered on the theme of ‘Maritime Domain Awareness’. During this segment, the speakers included Siji Song, who discussed ‘Maritime Domain Awareness: Shifting Paradigms for Merging Interest’ and Vice Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, who reflected on ‘Dark Shipping: Collaborative Efforts Information Fusion’.

The fifth and the last session of Galle Dialogue 2023 was held under the theme ‘Collaborative Enforcement for sustainable Ocean Governance’ and was moderated by Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage (Retd). In this session, Dr. Vijay Sakhuja discussed the ‘Role of UNCLOS for the Resolution of Grey Zone Maritime Conflicts’ and First Admiral Dr. Tay Yap Leong focused on ‘Collaborative Governance for Sustainable Development and Marine Resources Management’. Meanwhile, Shanika Dissanayake reflected on ‘Regional Frameworks for Sustainable Ocean Governance: IORA, SAARC, and BIMSTEC’.

In parallel with the conference, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera held bilateral discussions and exchanged views with a group of Naval and Defence Chiefs as well as several intellectuals in the maritime fraternity. Among them were Singapore Defence Advisor in India Colonel Raymond Ong, President Indian Foundation Dr. Ram Madhav, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Chinese PLA Navy Rear Admiral Li Pengcheng, Deputy Commander UK Strike Force Commodore S.P. Kelly, Commandant Sultan Qaboos, Naval Academy of Oman Commodore Adnan bin Salim bin Khamis Al Raisi, Director General of Operations and Plan Department of Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force Rear Admiral Takenaka Nobuyuki, Senior Director, Royal Malaysian Navy First Admiral (Commodore) Dr. Tay Yap Leong, Chairman of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies and Professor of King’s College London Professor Geoffrey Till, German Defence Attaché in Colombo Captain Gerald Koch, Ambassador of Egypt in Colombo Maged Mosleh, Executive Director and Manager of Operation Department ReCAAP – Singapore Krishnaswamy Natarajan, CRIMARIO Project Director Martin Cauchi Inglott, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff India Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti and Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific Commodore David Mazur.

Concluding the proceedings of Galle Dialogue 2023 International Maritime Conference, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy and Director General Operations, Rear Admiral Pradeep Rathnayake proposed the vote of thanks. He first expressed his profound gratitude to the Defence Ministry and the Geopolitical Cartographer (GC) for their collaborative efforts in organizing this major event. Additionally, he conveyed the Sri Lanka Navy’s to the Navy Chiefs who attended the maritime conference and the intellectuals, diplomatic corps, and resource persons who greatly enriched the 11th edition of the Galle Dialogue.

Hosting maritime conferences of this nature offers an opportunity to enhance collaboration and share fresh insights, experiences, and tactics necessary for a united response to emerging non-traditional maritime issues in the Indian Ocean region.

Moreover, it fosters the growth of cooperation and coordination among the coastal nations in the Indian Ocean region and the various parties involved in utilizing this region.

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