INSS Roundtable Discussion on “Widening Red Sea Conflict:
Implications for the Global Economy and Sri Lanka”
September 03, 2024
The Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), the premier think tank on national security established and functioning under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) organized a Round Table Discussion (RTD) on the timely theme “Widening Red Sea Conflict: Implications for the Global Economy and Sri Lanka” on Monday (Sep 02), at the MoD.
This discussion on the timely topic was conducted under the guidance and direction of Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne. Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Maj. Gen. Ruwan Kulathunga (Retd) graced the event as the Chief Guest.
Overlooking Director General and Acting Director (Research) of the INSS, Colonel Nalin Herath warmly received the Chief Guest and the distinguished panelists to the forum. While making the introductory remarks, he also introduced the distinguished moderator and other speakers to the audience.
The central themes of the discussion included an overview of the evolving geopolitical landscape of the Red Sea, the implications of the conflict on the global economy, impacts on the Sri Lankan economy and strategies to strengthen economic resilience whilst exploiting the opportunities as a key maritime hub in the Indian Ocean.
The RTD was moderated by Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja, Professorial fellow in Economics and Trade at Gateway House in Mumbai and Visiting Senior Fellow at ODI in London. Dr. (Mrs.) Sujeetha Jegajeevan, Director of the Economic Research Department at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bingumal Thewarathanthri, the Chief Executive Officer at Standard Chartered Bank in Sri Lanka and Professor Rohan Samarajiva, founding Chair of LIRNE Asia (Learning Initiatives on Reforms for Network Economies Asia), were the key speakers.
The distinguished audience consisted of Navy Commander, Defence Ministry officials, academics, researchers, scholars, policymakers, senior tri forces and police officers and other international subject experts.
