The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and President, His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena graced the occasion as the Chief Guest of the inaugural session. The inaugural session of the Galle Dialogue 2018 was also attended by the Minister of Ports and Shipping, Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, the State Minister of Defence, Hon. Ruwan Wijewardene, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Mr Kapila Waidyaratne PC, the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, the Commander of Air Force, Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy, Inspector General of Police, Mr. Pujith Jayasundara, Ambassadors and High Commissioners to Sri Lanka and a large group of senior government and military officials.
The opening remarks were made by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe and the Keynote Address was delivered by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Mr Kapila Waidyaratne PC. Meanwhile, on the first day of the Galle Dialogue 2018, seven scholars presented following academic papers under this year’s theme “Synergizing for Collaborative Maritime Management”.
Enhancing Cooperation to Open a New Era of Peace and Stability in Indian Ocean - Rear Admiral Han Xiaohu, Commandant of Naval Command College (NCC), PLA Navy
Role of the Russian Navy in Providing Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean - Rear Admiral LUIK Eduard Endelievich, Chief Navigator of the Russian Fleet
Maritime Vision – US Perspective - Rear Admiral James Pitts, Commander Submarine Group 7/ Commander Task Force-54/74, US Navy
Maritime Governance in South Asia – What the International Maritime Organization Can Do - Dr. Ms. Jivanta Schottli, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
Minimizing Gaps between International Maritime Law and Domestic Laws - Mr. Alan Cole, Head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Opportunities and Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region and Structure to Enhance Maritime Cooperation and Partnerships in the Region - Admiral RK Dhowan, Indian Navy (Retd) Chairman National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and Former Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy
Regional Maritime Issues, Can the Indian Ocean be Collaboratively Managed – First Admiral Anuar Bin Mohamed, Assistant Chief of Staff Human Resource, Royal Malaysian Navy
Regional Maritime Issues, Can the Indian Ocean be Collaboratively Managed - Rear Admiral Didier Maleterre (DM), Joint Commander of the French Forces deployed in the Indian Ocean
Marking the importance of this significant occasion, the Commander of the Navy presented special mementoes to His Excellency the President and the distinguished invitees. The speakers who presented academic papers were also given away mementoes by Vice Admiral Ranasinghe as tokens of appreciation.
Accordingly, the proceedings of the first day of the Galle Dialogue International Maritime Conference 2018 came to a successful end, promising another day of fruitful deliberation today (23rd October).
