LKIIRSS's final Admiral's Morning: 'Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar: Our Strategic Neighbourhood

THE Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) held the final session for the lecture series titled 'Admiral's Morning'on 28 October at the Lighthouse Auditorium in Colombo.

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The series first began in September, with the aim of building awareness regarding Sri Lanka's maritime issues.

The lecture was delivered by the LKIIRSS Board member, former Sri Lankan Navy Chief Hydrographer Rear Admiral Y.N. Jayarathna (Retd.), who presented on the topic of the'Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar: Our Strategic Neighbourhood'.He began the lecture with a quick overview of the sessions previously conducted during the course of the series, reminding of the relevant maritime jurisdictions, and then moved on to today's topic, beginning by identifying the Indian Ocean regions around Sri Lanka; primarily the Arabian Sea to its west, the Bay of Bengal to the northeast, and the Laccadive Sea to its south.

He spoke particularly on Sri Lanka's neighbourhood, illustrating the various circles of influence surrounding Sri Lanka.

The primary circle of influence is well known: India, China and the USA. However, it was analysed that the second circle of influence comprised of Russia, Pakistan, and Japan, with Bangladesh, Maldives, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Australia populating more outward circles.