Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-01-30

Establishment of the Secretariat for the Operations at Sea on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS)

- In the Indian Ocean zone close to Somalia, a series of incidents of hijacking of commercial ships were reported since the year 2005 and the year 2010 was the peak year where the most number of such incidents were reported. This made a severe effect on the free passage of maritime trade and the global economy. The responses made by deploying of armed guards on board the commercial vessels and deploying navies in the seas close to Somalia have, by now, resulted, in the reduction of incidents of piracy. However, as a deterrent measure considered essential for enhancing the efforts to combat piracy and increasing coordination among the countries of the region.

The Contact Group on combating Piracy off the Coast of Somalia was established in the year 2009 as an international mechanism for the purpose and Sri Lanka has been a founder member in the Group. Sri Lanka has gained an opportunity to function as the Secretariat for the Working Group on operations at sea and the Sri Lanka Navy has both the ability and the experience to deal with the activity. Accordingly, the proposal made by H.E. the President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence, to make a formal request to the Contact Group on piracy off the Coast of Somalia, was approved by the Cabinet.