New Delhi: The navies of India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka participated in a two-day virtual Trilateral Table Top Exercise (TTX), 2021, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
The senior officers who attended the inaugural session of TTX-2021 included the Indian Navy’s Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, CSO (Ops), Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral PS Mahawithana, Director- General (Operations), Sri Lanka Navy, and Colonel Hilmy of the Maldives National Defence Force.
The Maritime Warfare Centre in Mumbai was the nodal agency for the drill.
TTX-2021 focused on improving mutual understanding and exchange of the best practices/ methods for combating common trans-national maritime crime, such as narcotics control and maritime search and rescue aid in the region.
Following the recent success of Operation Sagar Aaraksha 2 in support of MV X Press Pearl, the exercise was even more significant. The seamless coordination between the three Navies was achieved by ongoing engagements such as the TTX to develop shared SOPs.
TTX-2021 symbolized a profound trilateral relationship between India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, which has grown significantly in the marine domain in recent years. In line with India’s strategy of “Neighbourhood First” and vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), the interaction between the three surrounding countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has increased dramatically in recent years, officials said.
At the fourth National Security Adviser (NSA)-level trilateral conference held in Colombo during November last year, India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives had agreed to focus on methods to improve maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. India’s NSA Ajit Doval, Kamal Gunaratne, the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary-General (Retd), and Mariya Didi, the Maldivian Defence Minister, had attended the meeting with virtual participation from senior officials from the Seychelles and Mauritius.
(Venkatesh Iyer)