Current Affair 1:

News:

The existing members – India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and the Maldives – warmly received Bangladesh into the fold, while Seychelles participated as an observer state.

Evolution:

The CSC evolved out of trilateral meetings between NSAs and Deputy NSAs from India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, starting in 2011. India’s somewhat fraught relationship with then-President Abdulla Yameen of Maldives led to the suspension of meetings between 2014 and 2020.

As China’s influence and presence in the Indian Ocean grows, India has sought to enhance security cooperation with the Indian Ocean Island and littoral nations, through a new ‘minilateral’ group called the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC).

The Colombo Security Conclave was RE-established in 2020, when India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives agreed to expand the scope of their trilateral meeting on maritime cooperation. Mauritius joined the conclave at the fifth meeting of the grouping in Male in March 2022.

A secretariat for the group was established in Colombo in 2021.

In March 2022, the group adopted an agenda of five pillars:

1. maritime safety and security;
2. countering terrorism and radicalization;
3. combating trafficking and transnational organized crime;
4. cybersecurity and protection of critical infrastructure and technology; and
5. humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

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