Friday Dec 13, 2024
Friday Dec 13, 2024
Thursday, 31 August 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday to attend the two-day Indian Ocean Conference scheduled to open in Colombo today.
The Indian Ocean Conference 2017 (IOC 2017), organised by the Delhi-based think tank, India Foundation, will be held from 31 August-2 September at Temple Trees in Colombo.
The India Foundation will host the conference in collaboration with Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of Singapore and National institute of Fundamental Studies of Colombo under the theme ‘Peace, Progress and Prosperity’ in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The conference is chaired by Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Representatives of all the countries of the Indian Ocean region and other concerned nations will present their views on what the IOR countries can do to achieve peace, progress and prosperity in region.
The two-day conference will see participation from around 35 countries and have speakers from 25 countries.
The conference will be inaugurated by Chair Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Seychelles Vice-President Vincent Meriton, Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the India Foundation said.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will deliver the valedictory address.
“We are very happy that the Indian Foreign Minister will also be here to participate in this conference,” said Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Thilak Marapana while announcing the conference.
He said Sri Lanka wants to develop the Indian Ocean to be an area where peace will prevail and all the neighboring countries will profit from the region.
