The Galle Dialogue and Maritime Security Cooperation: Present Status and Future Possibilities

Abstract

The Galle Dialogue maritime security forum was initiated by Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence and the Sri Lanka Navy in 2010. Since then the Galle Dialogue has become an annual event. This paper examines the contribution of the Galle Dialogue to maritime security cooperation. In particular, it focuses on following four areas of maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR): geopolitical competition; Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing; sustainable harnessing of marine resources; and people smuggling. Its main finding is that at present the Galle functions as a forum for disseminating and exchanging ideas on maritime security cooperation. As such it has contributed to the production of knowledge and to generate suggestions for policymaking on this very important subject. The paper also makes some recommendations for enhancing the capacity of the Galle Dialogue to contribute to maritime security cooperation in the years ahead.