Over a decade of naval diplomacy, security relations and regional cooperation by Sri Lanka paid off yesterday as the Seychelles Defence Forces scrambled a Coast Guard Patrol vessel and a team of Special Forces personnel 230 nautical miles off the archipelago’s Mahe Island, to rescue six Sri Lankan fishermen and retake a deep sea fishing trawler which was hijacked by a group, suspected to be Somali pirates.
Seychelles forces personnel were able to rescue the Sri Lankan crew and also took into custody three pirates. The fishing vessel and its traumatised crew were escorted to Port Victoria, in Seychelles last evening, and are expected to make a landfall today. “This is the spirit of the Seychelles Defence Forces. professionalism, courage and bravery are the tenets of the new spirit in the force. Though small, we will make our contribution in attaining maritime security, peace and determination in the fight against terrorism to ensure that the world, especially in our part of the Indian Ocean remains a safe and peaceful region. Once again, I reiterate the pride and confidence of the Seychellois nation in the Seychelles Defence Forces." Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan said, congratulating the Coast Guards personnel and Special Forces for their effort.
The multinational joint effort to rescue the six Sri Lankan fishermen who were fishing in the high seas off the east coast of Somalia, is a testament to regional corporation, defence diplomacy, networked law enforcement and safety at sea mechanisms, working as intended. Over the last decade, a peacetime Sri Lanka Navy worked hard to grow a regional maritime security dialogue, especially amongst the island nations of the Indian Ocean. It also began to offer training and exchange programmes with the support of the sister services and the Government, to share hard-earned war time expertise with regional and extra-regional navies, coast guard agencies and other law enforcement units. The Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, with help from countries like Japan and UN agencies such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) pioneered specialised training for regional law enforcement agencies in Visit-Board-Search-and Seize (VBSS) tactics for counter trafficking and compliance enforcement. The Sri Lanka Navy, with UNODC support established a specialised training centre in Trincomalee with a ‘Ship-in-box’ training platform for foreign and domestic stakeholders to hone critical skills needed for law enforcement at sea. Sri Lanka also donated two small patrol boats to the Seychelles Coast Guard in 2019 to aid in capacity building. The good will and shared learning from such efforts go a long way, when swift action is needed, and it also strengthens the corporation to uphold rights and responsibilities of coastal nations in the Indian Ocean Region. The fact that this swift response came about when Sri Lanka took over the chairpersonship of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is also noteworthy.
Expanding Naval diplomacy, the Sri Lanka Navy and the Coast Guard have been building up a robust network with other Navies and Coast Guards. Such professional linkages undoubtedly contribute to better synergy in working together in times of need. Sri Lanka’s efforts have been aided by that of India, who was instrumental in forming the Colombo Security Conclave, which has based its Secretariat at the Sri Lanka Navy Headquarters, in Colombo since 2021. The Colombo Conclave is a regional security grouping comprising India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius. However, recent tensions between India and Maldives have seen a visible absence of the latter in the latest round of meeting between the nations National Security Advisors (NSAs). Such instruments of maritime security cooperation, and Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) between Sri Lanka and India, and other countries help to synergise the flow of information, intelligence, and enable better coordination for crisis response. It is through such instruments and mechanisms Sri Lanka obtained Indian and regional support to manage the MT New Diamond tanker fire and the MV X-Press Pearl disaster in recent times.
Given the vast maritime domain Sri Lanka is responsible for, the wide reach of our commercial and fishing fleets to travel to on a daily basis, our international maritime legal obligations, and evolving security concerns in the Indian Ocean Region, Naval diplomacy and defence diplomacy will likely counting to play a key role in Sri Lanka’s foreign and security policy.