🚢 SL’s Strategic Maritime Neighbourhood: Key Insights from LKIIRSS

• The final session of the LKIIRSS 'Admiral’s Morning' lecture series concluded, focusing on the ‘Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar: Our Strategic Neighbourhood.’ • Rear Admiral (Retd.) Y.N. Jayarathna outlined the "Circles of Influence" surrounding Sri Lanka: • Primary: India, China, and the USA. • Secondary: Russia, Pakistan, and Japan. • Importance was placed on strong bilateral relations with immediate neighbours: Maldives, India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, and aligning SL's strategy with their foreign policy goals. • Key Vulnerability: SL must secure the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, which generates up to 50% of the nation's electricity, as it represents a highly vulnerable strategic asset. • Regional Assets: Attention was drawn to India’s assets in the region, including the Madras Atomic Power Station (Kalpakkam), offshore oil in the Krishna Godavari Basin, and the growing strategic role of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. • The session stressed the strong mutual incentive for SL and India to protect the Gulf of Mannar and the need to avoid tensions in the Bay of Bengal, similar to those in the Arabian Sea.