Sri Lanka secures international shipping lane south of country from piracy or criminal activity

Sri Lanka has been successful in securing the international shipping lane off the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka, from piracy or criminal activity, the government has said.
Deputy External Affairs Minister Neomal Perera has said that Sri Lanka Navy and the Coast Guards Service have been successful in keeping its busy international shipping lane off South Dondra Head free from any piracy or criminal activity. Perera made this comment at the International Conference on Maritime Piracy held in Dubai last week. The Deputy Minister led the Sri Lankan delegation to the conference held under the theme " Maritime Piracy: enhancing public private partnership and strengthening the global response." He has said in his speech that maritime piracy has become an issue of serious concern to countries of the South Asian region which are bordered by major international sea lanes. The Deputy Minister has shared Sri Lanka's experience on arms smuggling by terrorist groups and called for cooperation in sharing intelligence in enhancing maritime domain awareness through joint and coordinated patrols as well as exercises. He has called for countries of the region to cooperate by sharing information, modalities and options for prosecuting and imprisoning pirates and for capacity building in the affected states. Foreign ministers and senior government officials from more than 50 countries as well as CEOs of leading global companies in maritime related industries attended the two-day Conference chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates.