Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed concern over the global energy needs at the Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) in Malé on Tuesday.
“Global energy needs are expected to roughly double by 2030, with India and China accounting for nearly half of the new growth in demand. With such heightened economic activity, maritime security concerns are inevitable,” Wickremesinghe said.
“All these political-economic developments have led to the most pressing challenge, which is tripolar competition in the Indian Ocean, with India and China on one hand and US and China on the other competing for space,’’ he added.
While addressing the gathering at Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) 2019, the Sri Lanka Prime Minister also remembered former Indian foreign minister late Sushma Swaraj.
He said, “May I preface my address this afternoon by paying tribute to Sushma Swaraj, my good friend was also a distinguished former minister of India.
When she was recovering from a prolonged illness, I didn’t expect her to make a journey to Hanoi. But her commitment was such that she was there with us and all of us who knew her will miss her.
But we must thank and remember her for contributions she made to this conference.”
The 4th edition of IOC is being organised by India Foundation in association with Government of Maldives and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore between September 3-4 in Maldives.
