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Dr. Dinusha Panditaratne, Nonresident Fellow at LKI, presented a forthcoming paper on China’s commercial and military presence in the Indian Ocean, at a conference on ‘Views of China’s Presence in the Indian Ocean.’ The conference was hosted by CNA and held on 17-18 June 2019, in Washington DC.

Dr. Panditaratne’s presentation focused on (i) Sri Lanka’s Indian Ocean identity; (ii) China’s commercial presence throughout the Indian Ocean, particularly in the areas of investment, trade and tourism; and (iii) how Sri Lanka is addressing the risks of increasing militarisation in the Indian Ocean.

Dr. Panditaratne’s panel discussion was chaired by Nilanthi Samaranayake of CNA. Invited participants at the two-day conference included experts from the National Maritime Foundation in India; Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad; Universities of Malaya, Seychelles, Djibouti, and Nairobi; RSIS in Singapore, Hudson Institute, University of Paris VIII, Australian National University, and US Naval War College.

CNA is a think tank in Arlington VA, which houses the Center for Naval Analyses and the Institute for Public Research. Read Dr. Panditaratne’s remarks here and download the accompanying slide presentation below.

While in the Washington DC area, Dr. Panditaratne also had the opportunity to meet staff and members of the Board of Trustees of The Asia Foundation, as well as Lindsey Ford, Director for Political-Security Affairs at the Asia Society.