Colombo Security Conclave is shaping India’s security architecture in the Indian Ocean |
Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
Colombo Security Conclave is shaping India’s security architecture in the Indian Ocean
The upgradation of the CSC has an impact on all countries in the Indian Ocean, but for India, it serves multiple strategic functions that other groupings cannot fully deliver.
In a region that has groupings such as QUAD, BIMSTEC and IORA, the Colombo Security Conclave has garnered relatively little attention. The CSC is deliberately narrow in scope and operational in design. It focuses on maritime domain awareness, counter-terrorism, cyber security and transnational crime. It reflects an important shift in India’s regional security approach—away from large membership groupings, which are based on consensus-driven multilateralism, toward smaller, trusted and functionally effective coalitions in its immediate maritime neighbourhood. It is precisely because of these characteristics that the CSC may prove to be one of the most consequential instruments in shaping India’s security architecture in the Indian Ocean.
Since its launch in 2011 as an informal trilateral dialogue on maritime security between India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the CSC has steadily broadened both its membership and its mandate. It has evolved into a more structured and ambitious regional mechanism. The inclusion of Mauritius as a full member and the addition of Bangladesh and Seychelles as observers signalled an early expansion of its geographic reach. But the more significant shift has been functional. The CSC’s agenda has moved beyond maritime domain awareness to encompass counter-terrorism, cyber security, trafficking, organised crime and humanitarian assistance. This widening scope has been accompanied by greater institutionalisation through regular meetings, working groups and coordinated capacity-building efforts, transforming it from a dialogue platform into a more operational security framework.
The recent move to internationalise the CSC marks the next........