<< Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage: Commander of Sri Lanka Navy (Left) - Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano: Chief of Staff of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (Right)
By Ankit Panda
Japan and Sri Lanka are looking to expand their cooperation on maritime security issues.
In a little noticed diplomatic trip, the chief of staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Admiral Katsutosi Kawano visited Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, Admiral Kawano met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the enhancement of bilateral cooperation on security issues, including maritime security. Admiral Kawano’s trip follows a flurry of official and track-II bilateral activity between the two countries in early June 2014.
According to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense, Admiral Kawano noted that the “Japanese Navy would like to learn from Sri Lanka’s experiences with antiterrorism operations.” The Sri Lankan MoD report also states that Admiral Kawano expressed an interest in Sri Lanka’s ports. Sri Lanka sits at a strategically important location in the Indian Ocean and 15 Japanese navy ships have visited Colombo in the past 18 months. While Japan already enjoys relatively developed interoperability and port access from India, its interest in Sri Lanka reflects Japan’s enduring interest in ensuring the freedom of navigation in the vital sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean. As a net importer of energy, Japan is highly reliant on the free passage of goods originating in the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz through the Arabian Sea, ultimately entering the South China Sea and the Pacific via the Strait of Malacca.
Read the full story at The Diplomat