Japanese Ambassador gets report of International Advisory Group on Indian Ocean security

Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage handing over the first copy of a report produced by the IAG to Japanese Ambassador Akira Sugiyama as Embassy officer Kawakami Takayuki and PF Project Executive Uttara Wanigasekara look on

Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Director of Centers for Indo-Lanka Initiatives and Law of the Sea of Pathfinder Foundation, handed over the first copy of a report produced by the International Advisory Group (IAG) to Japanese Ambassador Akira Sugiyama.

The Pathfinder Foundation conducted a meeting of the IAG, which was set up to identify key areas and stakeholders for a fully pledged Pathfinder Foundation Indian Ocean Security Conference (PF-IOSC) sponsored by the embassy.  

It was a track 1.5 initiative and prominent opinion leaders representing various Governmental and Non-Governmental research institutes participated in a day-long deliberation. The countries participated in this meeting were Australia, China, France, India, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The objective of the IAG Meeting was to conduct, based on the success achieved and feedback obtained from the participants of two successful conference held earlier,  a broader conference focusing on security and governance aspects of the Indian Ocean with a view to contributing to the broad vision of ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ construct.