Indian Ocean Region: Missed opportunity for Sri Lankan leadership

THE Indian Ocean Region—home to 35% of the world's population across 36 nations—stands as the backbone of global commerce. With 70,000 km of coastline and over 100,000 ships transiting annually, carrying 50% of global containerised cargo and 42% of crude oil, this region holds immense strategic weight.

- By Damintha Gunasekera

As Chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Sri Lanka had a historic moment at the 24th Council of Ministers Meeting to unite maritime powers including India, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, and the UAE around shared priorities: maritime security, sustainable development, and economic collaboration.

Instead, we witnessed a failure of leadership.

Failure of leadership

The NPP Government's decision to host this critical summit virtually—plagued by technical glitches—squandered our chance to showcase Sri Lankan diplomacy. More troubling, the inclusion of bilateral issues like Kashmir and Iran in the Colombo Communiqué marked an unprecedented departure from IORA's regional focus. As Chair, Sri Lanka, under Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, failed to steer discussions towards a unified agenda, undermining the potential of this vital platform.

Vision for Indian Ocean's future is clear

Vision for the Indian Ocean's future is clear: a tripolar world where India leads the region, with Sri Lanka facilitating this through our IORA chairmanship.