The fourth trilateral National Security was held in Colombo on the 28 November and led by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, as well as accused war criminals, Kamal Gunaratne, now Defence Secretary, and Shavendra Silva, head of Sri Lanka’s army.
The trilateral National Security Adviser meeting discussed issues of Maritime Security Cooperation between India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, whilst also inviting observers from the Seychelles and Mauritius.
During the Kamal Gunaratne met with Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor for India, and Mariya Didi, Minister for defence for the Maldives.
The three countries also exchanged views on common security threats and agreed to broad base cooperation by expanding the scope to improve intelligence sharing and include issues like terrorism, radicalization, extremism, drugs, arms & human trafficking, money laundering, cyber-security and effect of climate change on the maritime environment.”
Earlier this year a joint maritime exercise, SLINEX was conducted between the Indian and Sri Lankan Navy and could have caused 120 whales to become beached at the south of the Island
Kamal Gunaratne and Shavendra Silva both are accused of committing war crimes towards the end of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil Civilians killed by Sri Lankan state forces. Silva is currently barred from entry into the US due to credible evidence of his involvement in “extrajudicial killings”. During the armed conflict, Silva was the head of the notorious 58 division which stands accused of the most egregious crimes.
Read more here : US ban on Shavendra Silva is ‘legal requirement’ says Pompeo
Read more from the Sri Lankan Army.
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