Rajnath Singh holds bilateral meeting with Sri Lankan President Dissanayake in Colombo
The Defence Minister held a bilateral meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo on 9 September 2026, as part of a three-day visit to Sri Lanka.
The Defence Minister congratulated the Sri Lankan government on completing two years in office and conveyed greetings from the Prime Minister.
Both sides reaffirmed commitment to deepening defence and diplomatic ties, describing India and Sri Lanka as close maritime neighbours, and pledged continued cooperation on regional security, safety, peace and prosperity in South Asia.
The visit forms part of India's ongoing "Neighbourhood First" and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) engagement with Sri Lanka on maritime and defence matters.
Colombo Security Conclave (CSC)
The Colombo Security Conclave is a trilateral maritime and security cooperation mechanism originally established by India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives in 2011, elevated to a formal structure in 2020–2021. It focuses on five pillars: maritime safety and security, terrorism and radicalisation, trafficking and transnational organised crime, cybersecurity, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.
Key Details
- Membership has expanded over time: Mauritius joined in 2022, Bangladesh in 2024, and Seychelles became a full member in 2025 (having earlier participated as an observer).
- A Charter and an MoU for a permanent Secretariat, based in Colombo, were signed in 2024, formalising the grouping's institutional structure.
- The CSC is coordinated at the National Security Adviser (NSA) level, with periodic NSA-level meetings (the 7th was held in 2025).
The Defence Minister's Colombo visit reinforces the bilateral defence relationship that underpins the CSC, India's principal minilateral security architecture in the Indian Ocean Region alongside Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Bangladesh and Seychelles.
SAGAR Doctrine and India's Indian Ocean Security Policy
SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), articulated in 2015, is India's stated maritime strategic vision for the Indian Ocean Region, emphasising capacity-building, maritime domain awareness, and collective security among Indian Ocean littoral states rather than unilateral dominance.
Key Details
- SAGAR frames India's bilateral defence assistance to Indian Ocean neighbours, including training, hydrography, and platform transfers to Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles.
- India has periodically transferred or leased naval assets (such as Dornier maritime patrol aircraft and offshore patrol vessels) to Sri Lanka under this framework. [Unverified — specific recent transfers not confirmed in the source article]
- SAGAR complements India's broader Indo-Pacific outlook and its engagement with the Quad, though the Quad itself does not include Sri Lanka.
The Defence Minister's emphasis on India-Sri Lanka ties as a "maritime partnership" for "regional security" directly echoes SAGAR's language and objectives, situating this bilateral visit within India's wider Indian Ocean security posture.
- Visit: three-day visit to Sri Lanka by India's Defence Minister; bilateral meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held on 9 September 2026 in Colombo.
- Dissanayake's government completed two years in office as of the visit (2026).
- Colombo Security Conclave: founded 2011 (India, Sri Lanka, Maldives); formalised with Charter/Secretariat MoU in 2024; now has six members (adding Mauritius 2022, Bangladesh 2024, Seychelles 2025), with the Secretariat based in Colombo.
- SAGAR doctrine: articulated by India in March 2015.